The Carroll County Water Authority petitioned to condemn 37.959 acres of land owned by L. J. S. Grease & Tallow, Inc. A special master awarded L. J. S. $140,000 as the actual market value of the property taken. L. J. S. appealed the award and demanded a jury trial. By consent of the parties, the appeal was heard by a court-appointed arbitrator with further right of appeal as if the case had been tried before a jury. The arbitrator awarded L. J. S. $265,000 as the value of the realty and $1,250,000 for business loss damages, and the superior court entered judgment on the award. The Water Authority appeals, arguing, among other things, that business loss damages were too speculative and remote to be recoverable here. We disagree and affirm. Evidence introduced at the hearing before the arbitrator showed that prior to the condemnation, L. J. S. operated a grease rendering plant on an 80-acre tract of land along Snake Creek in a remote area of Carroll County. Grease rendering plants perform a sanitation service for restaurants by collecting their used grease. They convert the grease into a commodity-type end product used for animal feed and in cosmetics and lubricants. Grease rendering plants earn income by collecting a charge for picking up the used grease and by selling the end product at a fluctuating price for the various industrial uses. When the market price of the end product is above a certain level, the plants impose no pickup charge. When, however, the price drops below a certain level, a pickup charge is imposed. Grease rendering is a relatively limited industry; there are no more than nine such plants in Georgia. It is also a highly regulated industry, as permits from numerous governmental authorities are required for operation of a plant. The plant operated by L. J. S. was previously owned by a company known as American Proteins.
In the 1980′s, the Water Authority began attempts to locate a body of flowing water in the county capable of being used to establish a reservoir. In August 1994, the Water Authority received permits from federal and state authorities for construction of a reservoir on Snake Creek. The Water Authority instituted this condemnation proceeding because it needed property on which L. J. S.’s plant was located for construction of the reservoir. Unaware of the Water Authority’s plans to construct the reservoir, L. J. S. purchased the rendering plant from American Proteins in October or November 1994. When the Water Authority later made a public announcement of its intent to construct the reservoir, L. J. S. began losing its customers due to the threatened closure of the plant. L. J. S., therefore, began winding down operations of the plant, until December 1999 when it let its federal permit expire. The Water Authority filed its petition to condemn approximately one-half of L. J. S.’s acreage in March 2000.
