Groups challenge Georgia biomass facility’s unlawful air permit

Aug 2

ATLANTA — Today the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) and Sierra Club, is challenging a move by Georgia regulators to allow a biomass wood pellet plant to double its pollution limits without complying with Clean Air Act requirements.

Telfair Forest Products is a wood pellet manufacturing plant in Lumber City, Ga. On July 3, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) approved a modification to Telfair Forest Products’ Air Quality Permit to double its emissions of certain health and environment-harming pollutants without installing legally required pollution controls or air impact analyses.

This Permit allows Telfair Forest Products to become the largest emitter of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Georgia while not having undergone the required permitting procedures. The EPD also greenlit this facility becoming the highest-emitting wood pellet plant in the nation by a significant margin, producing more than twice the level of VOCs as compared to a majority of its larger competitors.

“EPD got this one wrong. Twice we gave regulators detailed explanations about why this permit request is illegal and dangerous for citizens of Telfair County and they chose to look the other way,” said Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney in SELC’s Atlanta office.
“Clean air is a basic human right,” said Codi Norred, executive director of GIPL. “As a matter of justice and accountability, we cannot let these actions by Telfair Forest Products and the EPD stand. It is unacceptable to harm the health and well-being of Georgians, especially those most overburdened by the effects of climate change and pollution.”
"By allowing this facility to double its emissions, the Georgia EPD is sacrificing the health and well-being of the residents of Telfair County, who are already burdened by years of environmental injustices," said G Webber, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director. "Challenging this permit is about making sure that all Georgia communities, including Telfair residents, are protected from corporate polluters and their enablers at the EPD."

Biomass energy is the process of cutting down trees, turning them into wood pellets, and then burning them for power. The biomass industry claims this process is clean energy, but in reality, burning forests for electricity releases more climate-warming pollution than burning coal, all while degrading Southern forests and harming nearby communities.

These dangerous plants are often sited near communities of color that are already overburdened with industrial pollution, continuing a long history of environmental injustice and racism in the South. Telfair County is one of the poorest in Georgia (153rd out of 159 counties). Lumber City has a population that is more than 70 percent Black and in the 86th percentile (nationwide) for individuals with low incomes.

Biomass energy has an outsized impact on the South, which is home to dozens of wood pellet plants. These facilities turn trees into wood pellets which are then shipped overseas to countries in Europe and Asia where they are burned for power. Even worse, wood pellet facilities frequently violate their permits, making them even more dangerous to nearby residents.

SELC is challenging this permit in Georgia’s Office of Administrative Hearings, the process required by state law before challenging a state-issued permit in Georgia’s court system.

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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. For more information, visit southernenvironment.org

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.