CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ga. — Leaders at Girl Scout Camp Martha Johnston in Crawford County are now looking for ways to move forward after a granite quarry was approved nearby.
Scouts showed up to Tuesday night's county commission meeting to oppose the quarry, worried about air and water pollution, but the camp's facilities manager worries about the camp itself.
Outside the camp, and along Girl Scout Road, there are plenty of signs that read, 'Stop Rock Quarry.' The folks at the camp still want to find a way, but now, they may need to figure out how to work around it.
"Everybody here calls me 'Doc,'" Facilities Manager Ronald 'Doc' Holliday said.
He's a fixture at Camp Martha Johnston and has been for nearly two decades. His time at the camp is only a fraction of the camp's more than 100-year history.
Some of the buildings at the camp are original but with the quarry now approved, Holliday worries about how they will hold up.
"I don't know how far the blast is going to carry. But I think it won't take a whole lot to rock it. And then you've got a 100-year-old building that's liable to be destroyed," Holliday said.
Holliday says he's not sure what they'll do next, but he thinks they may need to reinforce some buildings. Until then, their goal is just to give the scouts at camp a great experience.
"Don't really know what we can do. It's just going to be a wait-and-see thing now to see what's going to happen," Holliday said.
13WMAZ reached out to each Crawford County commissioner to ask why they voted the way they did, but none returned our phone calls. Cottondale Partners also did not get back to us.
Tuesday, the group told commissioners the particles of silica dust kicked up in their operation would be too large to breathe in, and should not affect air quality.
A report from the Middle Georgia Regional Commission called air quality impacts 'inconclusive.' Cottondale also says they'll follow strict federal noise requirements, and that blasts should not be felt outside the 1,700-acre development.
You can read the entire Middle Georgia Regional Commission report here: