Plant Hammond Archives - Coosa River Basin Initiative

Big News on Coal Ash from EPA

January 11, 2022

Advocacy, Blog Posts, Plant Hammond, Press Releases

Today, EPA took an enormous step toward addressing the real-world pollution concerns surrounding coal ash pond closure. In offering determinations on a handful of specific closure plans, EPA sent clear guidance on how the CCR (coal ash) Rule is to be implemented. From EPAs press release on January 11, 2022: “the proposed determinations re-state EPA’s consistently held position that surface impoundments or landfills cannot be closed with coal ash in contact with groundwater.” The press release further states that “Closure…

New Evidence Confirms Georgia Power Coal Ash Pits Slated for Cap in Place Submerged in Groundwater

August 8, 2019

Advocacy, Plant Hammond, Press Releases

These ponds collectively contain tens of millions of tons of coal ash – a byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity. Coal ash is loaded with a large number of toxins, carcinogens, and heavy metals that can migrate out of these ponds when exposed to water. “Georgia Power has already shown that excavation and removal is appropriate and feasible, including a recent decision to excavate additional sites that are substantially larger than any of these ponds in question,” said Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman,…

Georgia Power announces plan to close Plant Hammond

February 12, 2019

Coverage, Plant Hammond

Georgia Power announced on Thursday, January 31, 2019, their plans for the decertification of Plant Hammond, a coal-fired power plant located West of Rome, Georgia on the Coosa River. In recent years, Georgia Power has slowed updates for the 1954 plant to a halt, and this announcement did not surprise many. Currently, the Hammond property houses four coal ash ponds. The ponds store coal ash, the byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity, which contains a large number of toxic…

Coal Ash Pond Problems at Hammond and Bowen

December 13, 2018

Advocacy, Coverage, Plant Hammond

Coal Ash is the byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity. It also contains several toxic, harmful substances that are known to cause cancer, impact child development, cause kidney and liver failure, and a litany of other health problems. Traditionally, this material has been held in coal ash ponds that surround the coal-fired power plants. Unfortunately, Georgia Power’s coal ash ponds across the state are not lined and a recent report from Earthjustice, utilizing Georgia Power’s data from test wells,…

CRBI Wins Victory For Coosa River Fish, Plant Hammond Water Intake Must Be Improved

October 18, 2018

Advocacy, Plant Hammond, Press Releases

CRBI Wins Victory For Coosa River Fish; Plant Hammond Water Intake Must Be Improved The Coosa River Basin Initiative, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, recently won a legal challenge to a Clean Water Act permit issued to one of the oldest coal-fired power plants still operating in Georgia. Based on the administrative law judge’s ruling, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division must improve permit conditions by selecting a stop-gap measure to reduce the number of fish and aquatic species…