Environmental group petitions EPA to revoke Plant Hammond ash pond closure permit

ATLANTA — The Atlanta-based Southern Environmental Law Center is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revoke a permit the state issued last year for a coal ash pond closure project at Plant Hammond.

According to the SELC, the permit issued last fall by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division allows toxic coal ash to remain in contact with groundwater at the Georgia Power plant near Rome in violation of a federal rule adopted in 2015.

In a ruling last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the Biden administration’s crackdown on coal ash disposal plans that leave the ash in groundwater.

Coal ash contains contaminants including mercury, cadmium and arsenic that can pollute groundwater and drinking water as well as air.

The closure of Ash Pond 3 at Plant Hammond is a component of Georgia Power’s plan 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.

Meanwhile, closures of much larger, more deeply submerged ash ponds are underway or completed at Plant Scherer in Juliette, Plant Yates near Newnan, and at Plant McDonough in Smyrna.

“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,” Frank Holleman, a senior attorney with the SELC, said. “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.”

Jesse Demonbruen-Chapman, executive director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, said a state of emergency was declared in 2022 due to flash flooding of the Coosa River.

“Hammond’s ash pond is sitting up to 10-feet deep in groundwater, waiting for the next severe weather event,” he said. “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.”

Georgia Power issued a statement last year asserting that it is using “proven engineering methods and technologies” in its ash pond closure plan at Plant Hammond.

The permit the EPD issued requires the utility to follow a post-closure plan for at least 30 years, conduct groundwater monitoring, and maintain a cover system that will mitigate the effects of erosion, the company wrote.

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