FORUM VOICES Commission could approve new industrial facility without hearing residents’ voices

by Thomas Gardiner, Savannah Riverkeeper

At a time when record setting heat is filling hospital beds around the world with patients and local air quality measurements regularly generate health warnings, the AugustaRichmond County Commission looks set to approve yet another addition to Augusta’s resurging heavy industrial sector.

The Commission is set to consider a proposal for a new waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator for approval August 1, 2023 at 2 p.m. in the municipal building on Telfair Street. Any citizen with concerns will have the opportunity to voice those concerns as part of the hearing. Hearings dating back to July 2020 when the zoning change from commercial to heavy industrial was approved are marked as not having any concerned citizens present, but many locals say that’s exactly where the problem lies.

As part of regulations for the zoning change, public notice must be given in several ways, including visible signs at the property and along major avenues of approach likely used by local residents and businesses. The proprietor of the WTE project, Renovatio Solutions, LLC, operates a Facebook page with several photos of the required signs. Except local members of The Historic Spirit Creek Baptist Church report that signs were only placed along Mike Padgett Highway, not along Dixon Airline Road, the main access to the church facilities.

Members of the church said they were recently surprised by the advanced filings in the project because the choice in sign placement meant the public notice was not seen by the congregation. Many are concerned that such a facility would only worsen air quality and pollution concerns that heavy industry has a proven track record with. Hyde Park was a community in the area that was evacuated permanently and almost completely demolished because of pollutants from a poorly run facility nearby. Neighbors and residents remember, and in some cases still contend with the human health tolls that resulted from exposure.

In documents filed with the Commission to initiate the upcoming hearing, Renovatio responses to required application considerations suggest the company may have intentionally distributed notifications away from Dixon-Airline Road. The application requires the company to name potential nearby entities that have an interest in the project due to potential exposure. Under the listing for cultural considerations, the company listed none. But the church property sits just one half mile from Renovatio property.

The Historic Spirit Creek Baptist Church is the oldest active Christian congregation in the area, having been founded in 1800. As if that weren’t qualification enough as a cultural entity to be considered, the church was founded by and consisted entirely of enslaved persons and still maintains written logs from its earliest days. Log entries list (by name and contribution) amount donations for the church’s repair and compensation for their pastor, all given by then-enslaved individuals. It would be hard for anyone to argue that the church isn’t a landmark and cornerstone of the history and culture of Augusta, let alone that it is not a cultural entity worthy of consideration in the construction of this facility.

Other WTE facilities are operational in places around the nation, and neighboring residents share similar concerns of pollutants released from the facility causing harm to human health. The WTE will take in waste streams from places like FPL Foods, who aren’t listed by name, and incinerate the material to create what is called “renewable” natural gas.

Facilities of this kind are branded as environmentally friendly and claim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a solution to the greater climate crisis, which is wreaking havoc this summer. They claim to capture these materials before they are deposited in the landfill where decomposition releases methane. Until recently, methane was considered a far more dangerous greenhouse gas than even carbon dioxide. But recent research just released in May, 2023 shows methane to have a self-canceling effect. That paired with its short impactful life of only nine years could prove that methane has a much less significant effect than carbon dioxide, with an impactful life span of around 1,000 years in our environment. Incinerating these waste streams might prevent methane releases but will produce carbon dioxide.

The question for this historical congregation and residents of Augusta, especially in the South Augusta area, is whether or not to accept the risk. The Augusta Commission and Mayor have also touted the tax breaks and business boosts coming from another new facility in the same area that will process copper. That process will also have its own pollution stream flowing through the city streets. There is no indication in either of the permitting applications that combined effects were considered by the business entities or by the Augusta-Richmond County Commission.