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by Drew Kann, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
Like many other utilities, Georgia Power is ending the days of burning coal to generate electricity.
Just 12 years ago, 62% of the company’s electricity supply came from coal. By 2028, there is expected to be only one coal-fired power plant in the state.
Despite the move away from coal, Georgia Power still struggles with how to clean up the toxic ash lakes created by decades of burning coal across the state. Now, a proposed action by the Alabama Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is prompting a re-examination of Georgia Power’s own waste management plans.
Here’s what you need to know about the government’s move and what it could mean for Georgia Power’s coal ash disposal.
What is coal ash?
Coal ash is a dusty by-product of burning coal in power plants. To prevent the material from flying away, utility companies often store the waste in watery lagoons called ash ponds.
Coal ash is safe to reuse as a concrete ingredient, but it contains dangerous heavy metals like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, which are known to cause cancer and other serious diseases, according to the EPA. If it remains in groundwater or comes into contact with other water bodies, it can pose a serious risk to human health and the environment.
How many ash ponds does Georgia Power have?
Georgia Power has 29 ash ponds at 11 locations statewide in various stages of construction and closure. The company also has 12 landfills for storing ash.
At some ash pond sites, the company dries up the waste, excavates it and transports it to cased landfills or sells it for use as construction material. But at several locations, the company wants to seal the ash in place, with some of it coming into contact with groundwater.
At the Hammond plant near Rome, the McDonough plant south of Vinings, the Scherer plant outside Macon, and the Yates plant near Newnan (Georgia Power), the plant plans to cap millions of cubic feet of coal ash in uncased pits and permanently to be stored with the material submerged in groundwater. Environmentalists assume that the surrounding communities must reckon with risks to the water supply.
How is coal ash managed in Georgia?
In Georgia, coal ash oversight is the responsibility of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD). That’s because Georgia is one of only three states that the federal government has allowed to oversee the closure of their own ash ponds. The other two are Oklahoma and Texas.
For a state to receive approval to close ash ponds, the EPA requires that its program be “at least as protective as current federal regulations.”
What does Alabama have to do with it?
Alabama had applied to administer its own coal ash program along with Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas. But last week, the EPA — which has taken a more aggressive approach to enforcing coal ash regulations under President Joe Biden — put those plans on hold.
The agency announced Friday it plans to deny Alabama’s application after determining that the state program offers “significantly” less protection than federal regulations require.
Specifically, the EPA said ponds must not be plugged when coal ash comes into contact with groundwater, noting that the Alabama permit does not require facilities that adequately prevent and monitor groundwater intrusion. Federal regulations state that coal ash ponds must be closed in a manner that controls, minimizes, or eliminates groundwater contamination to the “maximum extent possible.”
Several of the ash ponds at stake in the state are owned by Georgia Power’s sister company, Alabama Power.
What does this mean for Georgia?
For years, environmental groups have condemned Georgia Power’s plans as dangerous and potentially in violation of federal regulations. Now they say the Alabama decision is further evidence that Georgia EPD needs to force the company to change course.
“If the ash comes in contact with groundwater, it doesn’t meet federal standards,” said Fletcher Sams, executive director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper.
When asked about its plans, Georgia Power spokesman Jacob Hawkins said the company is aware of the Alabama decision and will continue to work with Georgia EPD to ensure it complies with federal regulations. He added that the company is “committed to decommissioning plans that protect the environment and the communities we serve.”
While Alabama’s determination is significant, it isn’t the first time the EPA has signaled that Georgia Power’s plans may be inadequate.
In January 2022, the EPA sent a letter to the Georgia EPD asking the agency to review pending or granted permits for ash ponds to ensure they meet federal standards. The EPA cited a then-proposed ruling affecting an ash pond in Ohio that the agency said had material in the groundwater. Late last year, the EPA formally denied that facility’s request to continue dumping coal ash in its uncased pond.
Frank Holleman, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the message to Georgia EPD is clear.
“What the EPA has said is that if you allow coal ash to remain in groundwater in uncased pits when issuing permits, you are not meeting national standards,” Holleman said. “Anyone who can read the English language knows that’s what the rule requires,” he later added.
What happens next?
It wasn’t immediately clear if Georgia EPD would require Georgia Power to adjust its plans.
To date, EPD has only released a draft permit for a Georgia facility that would leave ash in the groundwater after closure. That’s at the Hammond plant.
Sara Lips, EPD spokeswoman for Georgia, said in a statement the agency will continue to evaluate each permit to “ensure it meets the performance criteria set out in the rules.”
“EPD will continue to work with the EPA to ensure that any permits issued protect human health and the environment,” she added. Lips did not directly respond to a question about whether the agency believed Georgia Power’s proposed coal ash shutdowns met federal regulations.
The EPA said in a statement that it was “in a productive dialogue on closure strategies” with the Georgia EPD.
“EPA is committed to our partnership with Georgia and to pursuing our shared goals of protecting groundwater from contamination and ensuring robust protection for communities,” the agency added.
©2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
