SUSTAINABILITY
Recycling � Resources � Lifestyle
Georgia’s Coal Ash Problem Threatens Groundwater, Public Health
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s the queasiness in my stomach eased, I peered out of the window of our small plane at the ground thousands of feet below us. The Chattahoochee River snaked between buildings and under highways: a narrow, greenish ribbon of water, flowing uneasily through the middle of metro Atlanta’s never-ending growth. It was the mid-2000s and I was in the air with Southwings, a conservation aviation organization, to investigate a violation reported to Chattahoochee
Above the Water Line Sally Bethea Sally Bethea is the retired executive director of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and an environmental and sustainability advocate.
28 June 2021 |
of people living near such facilities was not commonly known. Air pollution from these plants was the major concern at the time. fact that groundwater and wells could be contaminated by storing coal ash in ponds without protective liners had been known by some as early as 1980 – power industry scientists and executives. In the late 1980s, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) collected groundwater samples at coal-fired plants around the state and found high levels of contamination, but no action was taken. The installation of liners beneath coal ponds, required in some neighboring states, had been deemed “not economically feasible,” by Georgia Power and its parent, Southern Company. Flying over Georgia Power’s Plant Yates along the Chattahoochee River. The electric utility industry had fought successfully for years against scientifically Riverkeeper along the river downstream based proposals to designate coal ash as a of Atlanta. We had taken off from Charlie “hazardous” substance and, thereby, subject Brown Airport and, before heading south, to protective federal regulatory controls. circled above Georgia Power’s Plant In 2008, the magnitude of the coal ash McDonough-Atkinson, a coal-fired facility problem became abundantly evident, after built in the 1930s that was converted to a billion gallons of coal ash slurry poured natural gas units in 2013. from a power plant in Tennessee into local I could see large ponds on the 350-plus rivers; homes were destroyed, hundreds of acre industrial site located on the banks cleanup workers became chronically sick, of the Chattahoochee. The man-made and some have died from exposure to the reservoirs, sparkling in the bright sun, were toxic substance. At the time, Georgia Power created to store stormwater and coal ash, claimed its unlined ash pits were “safe a catchall term used for several kinds of and functioning.” Seven years later, nearly waste left over at power plants that burn 40,000 tons of toxic coal ash spilled into coal. The ash typically contains a variety a North Carolina river, when a drainage of substances harmful to human health, pipe burst at a Duke Energy coal ash pond. including arsenic, chromium, cadmium, The disaster finally yielded the first-ever lead, and mercury; long-term exposure to federal regulations of coal ash; however, these heavy metals can lead to liver and it was still not classified as “hazardous.” kidney damage and cancer. Coal companies had successfully lobbied Today, we know how dangerous coal to continue its designation as “solid waste,” ash can be. Fifteen years ago, when I abdicating most enforcement responsibility looked down on Plant McDonough and to the states. In other words, coal ash then Wansley and Yates – the other two disposal didn’t require any more careful Georgia Power coal-fired plants on the handling than a banana peel. banks of the Chattahoochee near Atlanta – More recently – and closer to home – the threat that coal ash posed to the health the coal ash news has centered on Georgia
Power’s Plant Scherer in the town of Juliette between Atlanta and Macon, the largest coal-fired plant in America. Tests of private wells near Scherer revealed contaminants found commonly in coal ash, including hexavalent chromium, a metal associated with an increased risk of cancer. Georgia Power began to purchase properties near the plant and seal wells, as an unusual number of nearby residents were diagnosed with cancer and other serious illnesses (“The Coal Plant Next Door,” ProPublica, March 2021). At McDonough, Yates and Wansley – Georgia Power’s plants on the Chattahoochee, located upstream of six municipal water intakes – nearly 30 million cubic yards of coal ash is stored in unlined ponds and elevated levels of groundwater pollution have been documented. At McDonough, recent data has indicated that ash contaminants have migrated off-site onto property owned by Cobb County. The company has said it will remove, consolidate and/or cap its ash in place. The latter – a less expensive approach – is its preferred alternative. In other words, the company wants to leave the toxic material where it is and put a lid on it; coal ash would continue to mingle with groundwater in many places: a perpetual risk to wells and nearby surface waters. Safer standards have been established in other states that required coal ash to be moved into lined landfills, but not (yet) in Georgia. For a generation, Georgia Power’s coal ash has been stored cheaply in unlined holes in the ground, often below the water table. If the company’s ratepayers are going to spend billions to clean up its past mistakes, shouldn’t the most protective disposal solution be required now? In North Carolina, Duke Energy has agreed to put all its coal ash in lined landfills away from surface and ground waters. Despite their ardent and repeated efforts, Georgia legislators have been unable to pass bills forcing Georgia Power to do the same thing. The next move is up to state officials. Will the Georgia EPD issue pond-closure permits that require ash disposal in lined landfills – or will the agency again allow Georgia Power to take the least expensive and least protective way out?
At l a n t a I n t o w n Pa p e r. c o m
