Winter 2018
A publication of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK)
THE PUBLIC DESERVES
NOTICE
of Coal Ash Pond Closure
require notice and opportunity for public input before the discharges begin.
Sometimes we think we’ve cleaned something up, but all we’ve really done is move the mess around and create problems for others. That is the scenario that worries CRK member Roberta Cook, who lives near Georgia Power Company’s (GPC) Plant McDonough-Atkinson.
To address the potential impacts from longterm storage, a second bill proposes more protective siting requirements for landfills storing coal ash, as well as increased monitoring so we can detect any leaks into groundwater.
The plant is located on the Chattahoochee River in Smyrna. Cook told CRK that in 2016 she watched the utility company ramp up activities around four coal ash ponds on site without giving neighbors any notice about what kind of work was being done. The activity made her worry about the coal ash waste from the ponds draining into the river, but she knows it poses other threats as well.
"Without [minimum state standards] there is no 100 percent assurance to the public that we are doing the right thing,” state Rep. Jeff Jones, R-Brunswick, told reporters. Rep. Jones introduced these bills in 2017 and is working with a coalition of legislators to pass them during the 2018 session. "I believe there should be statewide criteria in place to give citizens adequate notice before a decision is made to start accepting coal ash at a landfill in their community.”
“I’m not just concerned about the river. I know there is arsenic and other chemicals in the coal ash, and I am concerned about that getting into the groundwater,” she told CRK. “It sounds like the company is trying to clean up the site, but we need to know what they are doing. A lot of times, we think we’ve cleaned something up, but we end up creating another problem.” Cook is not the only Georgian sounding the alarm about GPC’s efforts to “close” its coal ash waste storage sites, nor is the Chattahoochee the only river threatened by those efforts. Coal ash is the waste remaining after coal is burned to produce electricity. The waste contains concentrations of dangerous heavy
metals including arsenic and lead that can leach into surface water and groundwater, potentially contaminating drinking water supplies. For decades GPC has stored the ash in ponds into which stormwater flows. There are billions of gallons of this wet coal ash waste stored in Georgia. GPC operates 11 power plants in Georgia where 29 ponds have been built to store coal ash. Twelve of these coal ash ponds are located at the three plants on the Chattahoochee River: Plant McDonoughAtkinson in Smyrna and Plants Yates and Wansley outside of Newnan. In 2016, GPC announced efforts to end the storage of wet coal ash and close all of the ponds. CRK and its partners in the Georgia Water Coalition want certainty that GPC’s solutions don’t create other problems for our waterways. We are working with legislators to ensure safe, long-term storage of this waste. Public notice currently is not required before ponds are drained, but public pressure during the 2017 legislative session led to the utility posting notice after the activities began. Proposed legislation would
"The disposal of coal ash in our districts is of major concern to our constituents, who are concerned about the unregulated dumping of coal ash [and] the contamination of our creeks, rivers and marshes from the dewatering of decommissioned ash pond." From October 27, 2017, Letter by Georgia Reps. Jeff Jones and Don Hogan of St. Simons, and Sen. Jason Spencer of Woodbine to Georgia U.S. Congressional Delegation, outlining concerns about state and federal regulation of coal ash.