Georgia revokes biomass facility’s unlawful air permit after conservation groups’ legal challenge

ATLANTA—The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has revoked the permit amendment of a biomass wood pellet facility after the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) and Sierra Club, mounted a legal challenge arguing the amendment violated the Clean Air Act.

Telfair Forest Products is a wood pellet manufacturing plant in Lumber City. 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 climate-harming pollutants without installing legally required pollution controls or conducting air impact analyses.

In a stunning move, EPD revoked the permit amendment. Telfair Forest Products requested the revocation and does not plan to challenge it, according to a letter from EPD.  Telfair Forest Products’ original permit to pollute air remains in effect. This afternoon SELC told the court it intends to withdraw its legal challenge in the Georgia Office of Administrative Hearings after the revocation is legally final.

“Telfair Forest Products was poised to be the poster child for how air quality regulations have failed communities surrounding biomass wood pellet plants,” said Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney in SELC’s Georgia office. “If EPD takes a second look at Telfair’s request, the health and wellbeing of nearby communities must be a priority.”

“This small victory for residents in Telfair County is a critical first step in stopping biomass expansion in Georgia,” said Codi Norred, Executive Director of GIPL. “However, we have a long way to go until Telfair Forest Products and its competitors decide South Georgians’ health is more important than industry. We will continue to keep the pressure on until all Georgians can breathe clean air!”

“It is troubling that it took the threat of litigation for the EPD to do the right thing,” said G Webber, Director of the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter. “Still, it is gratifying to know that the residents of Telfair County will not face such an unhealthy level of air pollution. The Sierra Club will continue to oppose harmful biomass projects that threaten our communities here in Georgia.”

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