ATLANTA — Today the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Coosa River Basin Initiative, Altamaha Riverkeeper, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, the Sierra Club and others, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke Georgia’s Partial Coal Ash Permit Program because it allows coal ash pollution of Georgia’s water resources by authorizing disposal of toxic coal ash in the groundwater, in violation of national safety standards.
Coal ash, or coal combustion residuals (CCR), is generated from burning coal for electricity. According to the EPA, it pollutes air, soil, and water with dangerous heavy metals including arsenic, lead, and mercury, which are known to cause cancer and other serious illnesses. In 2015, EPA put in place national standards for handling and disposal of coal ash to prevent pollution and coal ash disasters. That rule, referred to as the "CCR Rule," imposes standards governing how utilities dispose of toxic coal ash to ensure that when old coal ash impoundments are closed, they do not harm public health or the environment. In 2020, EPA allowed Georgia EPD to run its Partial CCR Permit Program on condition that Georgia’s Program is at least as protective as the Federal CCR Rule requirements.
In 2023, EPD issued a state permit for Georgia Power’s Plant Hammond Ash Pond 3 which leaves 1.1 million tons of coal ash in up to ten feet of ground water along the shores of the Coosa River near Rome in Northwest Georgia. The fate of about 33 million tons of toxic coal ash remains to be decided across the state, with Georgia Power Company planning to leave this waste in unlined pits submerged in groundwater. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed EPA’s interpretation that the closure of ash ponds while in groundwater violates the Federal CCR Rule.
EPA has repeatedly put Georgia’s EPD on notice, both in 2022 and in 2024, that the Federal CCR Rule prohibits closure of coal ash ponds if the industrial waste is in contact with groundwater before closure. Despite years of discussions, Georgia EPD refuses to withdraw its Hammond permit, while closures of much larger, more deeply submerged ash ponds are underway or completed at Plant Scherer in Juliette near Macon, Plant Yates near Newnan, and at Plant McDonough near Atlanta.
In response, SELC and other conservation groups release the following statements:
"Georgia EPD has made it clear that it will not follow the law and protect Georgia’s clean water and communities from toxic coal ash pollution," says Frank Holleman, Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney. "EPA is charged with overseeing EPD’s program, and we need EPA to step in to protect Georgia’s rivers and neighborhoods, because EPD will not."
"The 2015 CCR Rule brings ash pond closure methods into the modern era by imposing clear-cut restrictions that separate a well-known source of toxic metals from groundwater," says Chris Bowers, Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney. "EPD is clinging to the past by seeking to allow these primitive unlined pits to remain in groundwater, and it is time for EPA to shut the door on such nonsense."
"The time for talk is over," says Jesse Demonbruen-Chapman, Executive Director of the Coosa River Basin River Initiative. "EPD has allowed Georgia Power Company to close an unlined industrial waste pit next to the Coosa River in the same county where a state of emergency was declared in 2022 due to flash flooding and rapidly rising waters. Hammond’s ash pond is sitting up to ten feet deep in groundwater, waiting for the next severe weather event. The 2015 Federal requirements are nearly a decade old at this point, and the Coosa River shouldn’t remain in harm’s way while EPD continues to ignore the reality that coal ash sitting in groundwater is a recipe for disaster."
"There is a 16-million-ton unlined coal ash pit sitting deep in Georgia’s groundwater in Juliette, surrounded by homes that for years relied on the same aquifer for drinking water," says Fletcher Sams, Executive Director and Altamaha Riverkeeper. "EPA recently denied the state of Alabama’s application to run its own coal ash permit program because Alabama allowed ash pond closures that were in contact with groundwater. Georgians shouldn’t have less protections than their neighbors in Alabama. The citizens of Juliette have been waiting for EPA to step in and correct this injustice, and that time is now."
"When EPD took the reins from EPA in 2020 to run its own state coal ash permit program, we withheld judgment to see whether EPD was truly up to the task of safeguarding our rivers, streams, and groundwater," says Chris Manganiello, Water Policy Director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. "Unfortunately, EPD has sided with the fossil industry’s nonsensical interpretation that regulations intended to safeguard against groundwater pollution somehow allow the permanent disposal of toxic coal ash in groundwater. Many of the ash ponds in and near the Chattahoochee River are already closed while in groundwater, while they await permits from EPD to leave it there. EPA must step in."
"We know from our faith traditions that when the powers of this world put themselves above people's best interest, it is the role of faith leaders to call them back into right relationship with their community," says Codi Norred, Executive Director of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light. "That is why we are joining partners in calling on the EPA to stand up and act for justice. Georgia Power and the EPD continue to allow toxins from coal ash to leach into our water, harming the health and safety of Georgians. Stop the unlawful Partial Coal Ash Permit Program and protect the wellbeing of your citizens."
"It has become clear that the Georgia EPD is either unwilling or unable to critically review Georgia Power's coal ash cleanup plans and ensure they follow federal rules," says G Webber, Director of the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter. "This is not a trivial matter: The health of millions of Georgians is at stake. The EPA must revoke the Georgia EPD's authority to approve these plans and make sure our communities are protected. To add insult to injury, Georgia Power is passing 100% of the costs to clean up these coal ash sites on to ratepayers. If Georgia Power's customers have to foot the bill to clean up after the utility's decades of mismanagement of this toxic waste, then it needs to be done correctly and with proper supervision."
Click here to read the full letter.
About the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter
The Sierra Club Georgia Chapter is the largest grassroots environmental organization in the state, with more than 75,000 members and supporters. The Chapter supports a robust outings program and has active committees working on forest and coastal protection, transit expansion, and clean energy. For more information, visit sierraclub.org/georgia.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit sierraclub.org.
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