ATLANTA – The state has issued a permit to Georgia Power for a coal ash pond closure plan at Plant Hammond critics say violates a federal rule against leaving ash in contact with groundwater.
The closure of Ash Pond 3 at the plant near Rome is in conjunction with the Atlanta-based utility’s plan to to close all 29 of its coal ash ponds. At 19 of the ponds, ash is to be excavated and removed. The other 10 are to be closed in place.
Coal ash contains contaminants including mercury, cadmium and arsenic that can pollute groundwater and drinking water as well as air.
The ponds are being closed because Georgia Power intends to retire its entire fleet of coal-burning power plants by 2028, with the exception of two units at Plant Bowen near Cartersville.
A parade of Georgia environmental activists urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at a public hearing in September not to let the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) approve permits Georgia Power was seeking to leave ash in groundwater at four of the ash ponds it plans to close in place, including the pond at Plant Hammond.
“This state permit is not worth the paper it’s printed on because ash pond closures cannot comply with the [EPA] rule if closed in contact in groundwater, which is the case with Plant Hammond,” said Chris Bowers, a senior attorney with the Atlanta-based Southern Environmental Law Center.
“Leaving toxic coal ash in primitive, unlined pits contaminates groundwater and puts Georgia’s rivers at risk. … EPA has put Georgia EPD on notice that federal closure standards prohibit closure of ash ponds that are in groundwater, and today’s permit does not change that.”
A Georgia Power spokeswoman said in September that the EPA has authorized Georgia’s coal ash pond permit program to operate rather than the federal program, making Georgia one of only three states authorized to do so.
“At Plant Hammond, as we have at all our ash ponds across the state, we are utilizing proven engineering methods and technologies as part of customized, site-specific closure processes,” the company wrote Thursday in a statement. “This permit issuance is an important step as we continue our ash pond closure efforts at Plant Hammond.”
The permit the EPD issued contains a list of conditions, including following a post-closure plan for at least 30 years, conducting groundwater monitoring, and maintaining “the integrity and effectiveness of the final cover system as necessary to correct the effects of settlement … erosion, or other events, and preventing run-on and runoff.”
ATLANTA – Georgia Power is expanding its coal ash beneficial reuse program to Plant Branch near Milledgeville, the Atlanta-based utility announced Wednesday.
Working in partnership with Pennsylvania-based Eco Material Technologies, Georgia Power expects to start construction later this year on an ash processing facility at Plant Branch, a coal-fired power plant the company retired back in 2015.
The facility is expected to be online in 2026 and will process ash that is excavated from the onsite ash ponds. Once fully operational, it will produce about 600,000 dry tons of marketable ash each year.
In total, throughout the project’s 15-year duration, more than eight million tons of ash will be excavated and processed to be used in the concrete ready-mix market. Coal ash has been found to add strength and durability to concrete.
“At Georgia Power … we work every day to be innovators in the industry, reduce our environmental impact, and find ways to deliver additional value for our customers,” said Jennifer McNelly, vice president of environmental affairs for the utility.
“With this latest beneficial reuse project at Plant Branch, we are doing just that. In addition to reducing the amount of ash going to a landfill and complementing our closure plans, projects such as this bring additional jobs and positive economic impact for the local community.”
The Plant Branch coal ash reuse project is the third for Georgia Power. In 2020, the company announced its first reuse project at Plant Mitchell near Camilla.
As of July, about 500,000 tons of ash had been removed from the site to help create Portland cement, with about two million tons planned for removal during the next several years.
Last year, Georgia Power announced a beneficial reuse project at Plant Bowen near Cartersville, which remains one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Significant construction has been completed since September 2022, with the project expected to start removing ash for use in ready-mix concrete next year.
The coal ash reuse projects stem from Georgia Power’s plan to close all 29 of its ash ponds. Ash is to be excavated and removed from 19 of those ponds, while the other 10 are due to be closed in place.
Environmental advocates have complained that some of the ponds that will remain contain coal ash in contact with groundwater in violation of a 2015 federal rule.
However, Georgia Power officials say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has authorized Georgia’s coal ash permit program to operate separately from the federal program, one of only three states authorized to do so.
ATLANTA – Georgia environmental activists urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Wednesday not to let coal ash ponds at several coal plants operated by Georgia Power continue contaminating nearby groundwater.
Opponents of the Atlanta-based utility’s plan to leave coal ash in place at four of the 10 ash ponds it plans to close in place by 2028 testified during a virtual public hearing the EPA held to gather feedback on the federal agency’s proposal to deny Alabama’s coal ash permit program, which also calls for leaving coal ash in groundwater.
Georgia Power’s coal ash plan calls for the company to phase out its fleet of coal-burning plants. With the coal plants being retired, the utility plans to spend $9 billion to close all 29 of its coal ash ponds.
At 19 of the ponds, ash is to be excavated and removed. The other 10 are to be closed in place.
Coal ash contains contaminants including mercury, cadmium and arsenic that can pollute groundwater and drinking water as well as air.
The EPA issued a rule in 2015 prohibiting utilities from leaving coal ash in groundwater when they close ash ponds. Last year, the federal agency denied an Ohio utility’s request to leave coal ash at a closed pond in contact with groundwater.
On Wednesday, Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, executive director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, said a draft ash pond closure permit Georgia Power is seeking from the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for Plant Hammond near Rome violates the 2015 EPA rule.
“[The EPD] continues to refuse to pull permits that are clearly not in compliance,” he said.
Fletcher Sams, executive director of Brunswick-based Altamaha Riverkeeper, said an unlined coal ash pond at Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer in Monroe County extends 85 feet into an aquifer, contaminating the groundwater there.
Georgia Power is using the state’s groundwater as a “permanent coal ash dumping ground,” Sams said.
Residents of nearby Juliette have sued Georgia Power, claiming their wells have been contaminated by polluted groundwater linked to high rates of cancer in the area near Plant Scherer.
“Our area has proven to have a cancer cluster, with a lot of children included,” Juliette resident Andrea Goolsby said Wednesday. “Closing [ponds] in place with coal ash in groundwater is illegal. … We have to uphold the law.”
The Georgia Power plan also calls for leaving coal ash in place in ponds at plants Yates near Newnan and McDonough in Cobb County.
Representatives of Georgia Power say the EPA has authorized Georgia’s coal ash permit program to operate rather than the federal program, one of only three states authorized to do so.
“We continue to work with Georgia EPD to ensure our closure plan remains in compliance with federal rules,” Georgia Power spokeswoman Kelly Richardson said. “We are committed to closure plans that are protective of the environment and the communities we serve.”
The Georgia EPD is authorized to issue permits to “properly closed” coal ash ponds that comply with federal and state regulations, added Laura Williams, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources, an agency that includes the EPD.
The deadline for written public comment on the EPA’s plan to deny the Alabama coal ash permit program is Oct. 13.
ATLANTA – Environmental advocates are calling into question Georgia Power’s plan for closing ash ponds adjacent to coal-burning power plants.
Jennette Gayer, director of Atlanta-based Environment Georgia, cited a recent decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denying an Ohio utility’s request to leave coal ash at a closed pond in contact with groundwater.
As part of its ash-pond closure plan, Georgia Power is proposing to leave coal ash in contact with groundwater at plants Scherer, McDonough, Yates, and Hammond.
“When cleanup plans that don’t require liners to keep coal ash out of groundwater fail and groundwater testing continues to show contamination, or when the EPA requires cleanup that keeps coal ash out of ground water as they have in Ohio, will ratepayers be asked to contribute more funds?” Gayer asked members of the state Public Service Commission (PSC) Nov. 30 during a hearing on Georgia Power’s request for a rate increase of nearly 12%. “At a minimum, do not commit funds to cleanup that is not permitted.”
Georgia Power’s request to recover $400 million from ratepayers during the next three years for ash pond cleanup is part of a $9 billion multiyear plan. The utility intends to close all 29 of its ash ponds located at 11 coal plants across the state as it reduces its reliance on coal for power generation due to both tighter government regulation and market conditions.
Coal ash contains contaminants including mercury, cadmium and arsenic that can pollute groundwater and drinking water as well as air.
While Georgia Power plans to excavate and remove the ash from 19 ponds and close the other 10 ponds in place, environmental groups are calling for removing ash from all 29 ponds.
The EPA gave the environmentalists’ cause new ammunition last month when the federal agency denied a request from Gavin Power LLC to continue disposing of coal ash in an unlined ash pond at its plant in Cheshire, Ohio.
“For too long, communities already disproportionately impacted by high levels of pollution have been burdened by improper coal ash disposal,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Nov. 18.
“Today’s action reaffirms that surface impoundments or landfills cannot be closed with coal ash in contact with groundwater, ensuring safe water resources for these communities while protecting public health and ensuring a reliable supply of electricity.”
The EPA’s decision in the Ohio case followed an announcement the agency made back in January that it intended to enforce a 2015 rule prohibiting utilities from dumping coal ash from coal-burning power plants into unlined ponds.
Isabella Ariza, a lawyer for the Sierra Club, called attention to the Ohio case while questioning a panel of Georgia Power executives on Nov. 29, the first of two days of hearings before the PSC.
Ariza said the utility’s customers will suffer if Georgia Power moves ahead with its cleanup plan without considering the EPA’s decision in Ohio.
“EPA has stated that leaving coal ash in groundwater does not comply with federal rules,” she said. “Ratepayers will continue paying for ash pond closures that will continue to leave ash in groundwater.”
But Aaron Abramovitz, Georgia Power’s chief financial officer, said the Ohio case changes nothing for Georgia Power.
“I believe that was a specific case in Ohio,” Abramovitz told Ariza. “I don’t think that was … for a broader interpretation.”
“Our ash pond closure plans are, and have been, in compliance with federal and state rules and regulations,” Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft added.
Kraft said Georgia Power is continuing to review the EPA’s January pronouncement.
“While [that] review is ongoing, [Georgia Power] will continue to work with the Georgia [Environmental Protection Division] to ensure our closure plans remain in compliance with these rules,” he said.
The PSC is scheduled to vote on Georgia Power’s three-year rate hike request Dec. 20.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court has declined to take up a legal challenge to Georgia Power’s plan to collect $525 million from customers in coal ash pond closure costs.
The Sierra Club had appealed to the high court after both a Fulton County trial court and the state Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Atlanta-based utility, upholding a 2019 vote by the Georgia Public Service Commission giving Georgia Power the green light on its plan.
Georgia Power plans to spend nearly $9 billion to close all 29 of its ash ponds at 11 coal-burning power plants. The company intends to excavate and remove the ash from 19 ponds and close the other 10 ponds in place.
Coal ash contains contaminants including mercury, cadmium and arsenic that can pollute groundwater and drinking water as well as air.
The lawsuit sought to force Georgia Power – rather than its customers – to pay for the cleanup, with the Sierra Club arguing the utility was to blame for the coal ash problem.
“There are people all over the state who have to deal with serious impacts from coal ash in the form of poisoned drinking water and unsafe fishing and recreation,” Charline Whyte, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Georgia, said Friday.
“Now, every Georgia Power customer is picking up some of the tab for a decision that the utility knowingly made for decades.”
The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have charged Georgia Power’s decision to leave some of the coal ash in unlined pits in contact with groundwater violates federal clean-water standards.
Lawyers for the utility have countered that the ash pond closure plan complies with federal regulations for ash ponds as well as the more stringent requirements of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
