On Thursday, Mothers & Others For Clean Air joined with several other groups and individuals filing a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ask them to intervene and revoke a permit for a wood pellet manufacturing plant in Georgia that was issued without any public comment.
The EPA petition was prepared by Powell Environmental Law on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Project, and the other groups and individuals included Concerned Citizens of Cook County, Dr. Treva Gear, Dr. Victoria Meredith, Dogwood Alliance, Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, Forest Keeper, and Sierra Club Georgia Chapter.
In January, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) issued a final permit for a wood pellet manufacturing plant in Adel GA without taking any public comment, having refused requests from residents and allied organizations for a chance to comment on the permit. The Georgia EPD said that the plant would be a “minor” source and therefore EPD was not required to take public comment for the permit.
Wood pellet manufacturing plants produce unhealthy air pollution, including particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide as the wood is shredded, dried, and shaped into wood pellets. This kind of air pollution is known to cause asthma, other lung diseases, heart disease, strokes and cancer, among other health problems. Read more in a report from the Environmental Integrity Project.
Many pellet manufacturing plants have skirted environmental regulations that would be required for coal plants by the Clean Air Act, even though the pellet plants produce thousands of tons of unhealthy air pollution each year. In addition, pellet plants are often located in overburdened communities of color, worsening the environmental injustice that already exists.
Pellet plants and biomass power are not clean, they produce unhealthy air pollution that affects the health of nearby residents, and put tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We need to transition to clean, renewable energy to keep pollution out of the air and address climate change, so we can all be healthy and thrive.
Read a news story about the EPA petition.
03/19/2021
