JULIETTE, Ga. — For years some people in Juliette have been fighting Georgia Power about the health risks they've seen around the company's Plant Scherer coal plant. Now, Andrea Goolsby said they're glad a federal agency is seeing what they're talking about.
"It's not anything new. It's just finally getting some attention on the federal level that it needs," Goolsby said.
Goolsby said some people in Juliette have been trying to bring attention to the contaminated water from the coal plant for years. Gloria Hammond has lived next to the plant for over 50 years.
She said many of her neighbors sold their homes, died of cancer, or both.
"It’s still happening they think just cause they bought somebody out…they rectified it but it don’t," Hammond said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a letter to the state about Georgia Power's plant in Rome. The letter covers the final closure permit of the ash pond there and it's similar to those at Scherer.
The ash pond in Juliette collects the debris from Scherer. Neighbors argue that it seeps into groundwater and contaminates well water in the surrounding area.
Hammond is glad to hear that an ash pond is being cleaned up somewhere. She wants the same attention to come to Monroe County.
“I'm afraid our eyes that's supposed to be looking out for us is not watching as close as they should, so if the EPA can come in and help, by all means, I welcome c'mon," Hammond said.
Goolsby said the federal EPA should take the lead on how to clean up those coal ash ponds.
"I think EPA needs to step in and take that authority away from Georgia EPD if they cannot make the right decision," Goolsby said.
Hammond said getting the EPA to make changes at Plant Scherer won’t bring anyone back, but it’s better than going on like this.
"Ain’t nothing gonna bring nobody that died back, but the family will say well somebody listened and that’s all everybody wants is somebody to listen and do the right dangum thing," Hammond said.
Georgia's Environmental Protection Division told Georgia Power their October 2022 application for a permit to close a coal combustion unit is not approvable.
We reached out to Georgia Power about this and received the following statement:
"We are aware of the letter from EPA to Georgia EPD and anticipate that there may be future discussions between the agencies.
At Georgia Power, we continue to work to ensure that our ash pond closure plans are protective of the environment and the communities we serve. It is important to note that EPA approved Georgia’s state CCR program with oversight by Georgia EPD, and Georgia EPD evaluated our site-specific plans at Plant Hammond. We have consistently said, and continue to maintain, that our ash pond closure plans are designed to comply with both the federal and state CCR rules – which is further evidenced by Georgia EPD issuing the final permit for Hammond AP3 in November 2023.
We will continue to work with Georgia EPD to ensure our closure plans remain in compliance with state and federal rules."