EPA takes issue with Georgia agency’s approval of state utility’s ash disposal plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised concerns in a letter to its Georgia counterpart about the state utility’s storage of coal ash.
In the letter last week, shared with The Hill, EPA officials expressed concerns with Georgia Power’s plan for disposal of coal ash from retired Plant Hammond, near the town of Rome. Coal-fired power plants prevent the release of waste into the atmosphere through the use of ash ponds, or pits containing ash and water. However, environmentalists have warned such ponds pose a major threat to groundwater.
Last year, Georgia’s state environmental agency, the Environmental Protection Division, issued Georgia Power a closure permit for Plant Hammond. In the Feb. 16 letter, EPA Region 4 acting Administrator Jeaneanne Gettle said the federal agency has concerns about the plan, writing that about a 10th of the ash from the pond was in proximity to groundwater at the time of closure.
The Georgia plan “may be less protective than the federal regulations require,” Gettle wrote. EPA officials met with their state counterparts before issuance of the final permit, she wrote, and “believe that the concerns raised in our meetings were not adequately addressed.”
Local environmental groups expressed dismay at the approval and have called on the EPA to take action.
“This state permit is not worth the paper it’s printed on because ash pond closures cannot comply with the CCR Rule if closed in contact with groundwater, which is the case at Plant Hammond Ash Pond 3,” Chris Bowers, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in a statement last November following the approval. “Leaving toxic coal ash in primitive, unlined pits contaminates groundwater and puts Georgia’s rivers at risk.”
Bowers specifically pointed to the EPA’s August proposal to deny Alabama’s coal ash disposal program for similar reasons.
Coal ash and its byproducts are associated with a number of health hazards, particularly particulate matter, better known as soot. It can also contain other toxins such as lead, mercury and silica.
“EPA approved Georgia’s state [coal ash] program with oversight by Georgia EPD. Georgia EPD evaluated our site-specific plans at Plant Hammond and issued the final permit in November 2023,” a Georgia Power spokesperson told The Hill in an email.
“We have consistently said, and continue to maintain, that our ash pond closure plans are designed to comply with both the federal and state CCR rules – which is further evidenced by Georgia EPD issuing the final permit for Hammond AP3. We will continue to work with Georgia EPD to ensure our closure plans remain in compliance with state and federal rules.”
“EPD staff thoroughly reviewed the Plant Hammond AP-3 Closure in Place permit, which included a 60-day public comment period and public meeting to solicit input,” an EPD spokesperson told The Hill. “The issued permit meets the federal and state performance standards and the requirements for Georgia’s delegated program. EPD will also continue to work with EPA to ensure all issued permits are protective of human health and the environment.”
Updated Feb. 23 at 9:44 a.m.
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