People have been posting online about road crews digging up roadside areas and unusual glass-looking objects being placed in the ground around Bartow County. Roadside work caused a slight traffic delay on Euharlee Road between Chevron and the schools this week.
A private contractor out of Texas named Vantage Geophysical completed seismic testing in the area Monday morning, according to Eric Bourdages, operations manager of the project.
The testing involved four roads, according to Bourdages. Although he couldn’t release a list of the roads, those in the area took pictures of work and objects on Euharlee Road, Highway 411, and Hardin Bridge Road near the schools. The objects were part of the testing equipment.
Bourdages said Georgia Power, specifically Plant Bowen, is their client. County permits were issued for the work, according to Bartow County officials. The work was done on the county’s right-of-way and would not affect anyone’s private property, according to county road department officials.
The testing allows the power plant to apply for carbon credit with the federal government. Carbon credits, or allowances, are federally allowed permits for the emission of a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. Plant Bowen, a coal-burning plant, has emissions and is seeking carbon credits.
Seismic testing identifies soil and rock types deep into the ground. Bourdages said it is typically used to find oil and gas but, in this case, they were doing carbon capture down 14,000 feet into the earth. The information would then be used to apply for carbon credits.
He said this is something many in the Midwest do but this is the first time he has done this type of testing in Georgia. Performing the work on county right-of-ways is an easy way to do it because counties can approve permits without involving private properties.
A check around neighboring counties indicates the work is strictly in Bartow. Floyd and Cobb said they would get seismic permit requests when projects are planned but haven’t gotten any recently. Officials in Polk, Paulding, Cherokee, and Gordon haven’t yet returned phone calls on the subject.
