I am strongly compelled to respond to your article, “Wastewater permit call reversed” (Oct. 6) on account of being a long-time, part-time resident of Forsyth County.  I thought I was going to have a heart attack! The statement “the permit granted the county the ability to release 6 million gallons per day of treated water from the Fowler wastewater facility into the Chattahoochee” spews out some very dirty and astounding facts.

I was attracted to live in Forsyth County because of its beauty and breathtaking waterways.  The county would not be more attentive to preserving the rural beauty of the Chattahoochee. This preservation should be coming from the Forsyth County government, and should not have to be championed by an organization like The Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

While the article was objective and presented both sides of the issue, I think that some of the eye-opening statistics mentioned in the article will recruit a great deal more members for The Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, myself included.

This Chattahoochee River scenario reminds me of the classic 1974 movie The Godfather II in which Michael Corleone travels to Cuba to meet other mob bosses and to discuss the American mob’s control of casinos and other enterprises in Cuba. It is 1959. and when Corleone is being driven through Havana, he sees an Army captain and a few soldiers killed on the street by a rebel who blew himself up in an ambush on the soldiers. At the meeting of mob bosses, he mentions the incident and worries about the stability of the government against the rebels, but is told not to worry about the rebels.

Corleone  says, “The soldiers are paid to fight, the rebels aren’t … therefore they can win.” The same holds true for the activists of all political persuasions who are fighting to preserve the Chattahoochee River. The environmental lawyers are paid big money to fight such environmental restrictions; the friends of this beautiful river are not paid for their work, therefore they can win.

After reading your article, next month when I return to live in Forsyth County I will view the Chattahoochee River with better appreciation.

Frank P. Horan

Hartford, CT