SELC statement on EPD permitting Plant Hammond’s coal ash closure plan  

ATLANTA— Today Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division issued final permits to close Georgia Power’s Plant Hammond Ash Pond 3 in Floyd County. The state issued permit calls for capping more than 1 million tons of toxic coal ash in place, partially sitting in ground water on the bank of the Coosa River.  

In response, Chris Bowers, Senior Attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, released the following statement: 

“This state permit is not worth the paper it’s printed on because ash pond closures cannot comply with the CCR Rule if closed in contact with groundwater, which is the case at Plant Hammond Ash Pond 3. Leaving toxic coal ash in primitive, unlined pits contaminates groundwater and puts Georgia’s rivers at risk. Just last year, the state of Georgia declared a State of Emergency due to severe flooding from rapidly rising waters in Floyd County, which is right where Hammond’s unlined, partially submerged ash pond is located. EPA has put Georgia EPD on notice that federal closure standards prohibit closure of ash ponds that are in groundwater, and today’s permit does not change that.  

“In August, EPA proposed to deny Alabama’s entire CCR Permit Program application for federal approval for much the same reason that EPD’s coal ash permit for Hammond Ash Pond 3 does not pass muster under the federal criteria – closures with ash in groundwater do not, and cannot, comply with the federal CCR rule’s closure standards.”