Conservation Groups Petition EPA to Revoke Georgia’s CCR Permit Program

Jul 18

ATLANTA — Today the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Coosa River Basin Initiative, Altamaha Riverkeeper, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL), 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, the 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, the EPA allowed Georgia EPD to run its Partial CCR Permit Program on the 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 groundwater 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, GIPL released the following statement:

“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.”

Find the petition and related documents HERE.

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Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that inspires and equips communities of faith to organize, implement practical climate solutions, and advocate across Georgia on issues of climate change, environmental justice, and community resilience. An affiliate of the national Interfaith Power and Light movement, GIPL envisions a Georgia where all people can flourish in a healthy environment, a stable climate, and resilient communities.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 180, including 90 attorneys, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. —southernenvironment.org