Red light, green light on pollution

– April 17, 2023 –

Good morning! We're all about pollution today, which seems fitting ahead of Earth Day on Monday. On Tuesday, Georgia regulators gave Georgia Power the go-ahead to burn more planet-warming fossil fuels. But last week the EPA announced it is penalizing a Savannah company for failing to balance its carbon-heavy fuels with renewables. In the middle, there's a debate about how much smelly, dark discharge a Jesup pulp mill should be allowed to dump in the Altamaha. That's one the public can still weigh in on.

Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org

Clarification: This newsletter was updated April 19 to clarify that RYAM manufactures cellulose fibers used in items ranging from cigarette filters to diapers. It doesn't manufacture those finished products.

NEWS

Ga. Power gets more fossil fuels

It took less than 8 minutes on Tuesday for state regulators to approve a deal that will allow Georgia Power to generate more electricity, as Emily Jones of WABE/Grist reports. Critics of the agreement condemn its increased reliance on planet-warming fossil fuels, as Georgia Recorder's Stanley Dunlap reports.

"Today's decision — particularly the approval of three new fossil gas combustion turbines at Plant Yates — will make Georgia Power even more reliant on fossil gas," Bryan Jacob, Solar Program Director at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, wrote in a prepared statement. "So next time gas prices spike, Georgia Power customers will be even more exposed to that price volatility."

NEWS

Upcoming Rayonier hearing

Rayonier Advanced Materials, or RYAM, has a permit to discharge into the Altamaha River from its pulp mill in Jesup. That permit is up for renewal, with a virtual public hearing to be held via Zoom at 7 p.m. on April 25.

The mill, which makes materials used in items ranging from cigarette filters to disposable diapers, halved the volume of its discharge as the result of a 2008 consent decree. But Maggie Van Cantfort of the Altamaha Riverkeeper notes that the allowable discharge still changes the color and odor of the river water, affecting how paddlers and anglers can enjoy the water below Jesup.

"EPD needs to enforce a much tighter limit that results in no noticeable change to the river," Van Cantfort wrote in a prepared statement. "Similar mills in other countries are required to discharge completely clear wastewater. Even in neighboring states, pulp mill color discharge has been 66% less than RYAM's current discharge. The technology exists for reducing the foul discharge into the river. This is not a matter of 'can't do.' This a company choosing to not do better."

The public can participate in the hearing online or by phone . To log into the public hearing on your computer, click this link or copy and paste it into your browser to join the meeting: https://gaepd.zoom.us/j/6071665276.

Join by phone at 470-381-2552. The meeting ID is 607 166 5276.

Dark plumes of Rayonier Advanced Material's discharge in the Altamaha River. The discharge pictured was at levels under the currently proposed color limit. Photo taken on October 13, 2022.

NEWS

Feds target Savannah oil company

The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking $2.8 million in civil penalties from a major Savannah importer and producer of diesel and gasoline fuel, Colonial Oil Industries, Inc. The company will also be required to spend $12.2 million to purchase and retire credits aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Colonial's environmental record is otherwise good, with no other penalties listed in the EPA's online database. The Current's Jake Shore and Mary Landers explore how differentiating between ocean-going vessels and all marine vessels is key to the EPA's case.

Also noted

• A nearly 500-acre parcel of undeveloped Camden County land owned by U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-St. Simons) is again under contract. In 2018, Carter bought the property down the road from where the now-defunct Spaceport Camden was to be built. He paid a reported $2.05 million but didn't list it in his Congressional financial disclosures, saying it was not an investment but rather was for hunting and fishing. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hodnett Cooper Real Estate listed the marsh-front acreage for $4.25 million.
• The North Atlantic right whale calving season in the Southeast ended with 17 calves identified. Three of those are known or thought to be dead. With fewer than 360 whales remaining, the beleaguered species is facing extinction. Last week NOAA reported that an adult male right whale was spotted off Rhode Island entangled in fishing gear. You can track the whales' migration back north to their summer feeding grounds at whalemap.org.
• Cumberland Island National Seashore is planning to implement a 60-acre prescribed burn near Stafford Beach Campground on April 19. Another burn is scheduled for April 20 at Plum pile near Plum Orchard. Both burns are weather permitting and may have some smoke impacts to the public.
• One Hundred Miles filed an emergency motion on Wednesday to stop construction on a mixed-use residential and commercial development on U.S. 17 in Brunswick, claiming the ongoing work is in violation of a court order, the Brunswick News reports.