Winder gas plant first of its kinds in the Southeast

WINDER - It's the first of its kind in the Southeast,and the city of Winder has it; a facility designed to capture and process the methane gas that emits from landfills.

Winder Mayor Chip Thompson says the plant sits at the edge of the Oak Grove Landfill in western Barrow County. The facility operates as a joint effort between the city and private corporation Renewable Solutions Group. Very simply, the plant collects and cleans the methane that oozes from decomposing matter in the landfill.

"Over a year's time, you're looking at 44,500 tons of carbon dioxide that's not going to be released into the atmosphere that otherwise would have been," said Thompson. That's a component of the facility that Thompson finds most pleasing.

"More than just the profit, it's the fact of what it's doing for the environment," he commented.

Once the gas has been harvested it is piped to Buford for further processing, since that city has a larger plant than Winder. Both cities, along with a number of other municipalities, are part of a gas co-op called M-GAG or the Muncipal Gas Authority of Georgia. Thompson believes this new source of gas supply should benefit the members of that group, as well.