Environmental groups call for federal action after regulators OK Georgia Power coal ash permit

Environmental advocates are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act after state regulators issued a final permit signing off on Georgia Power’s plans to leave coal ash partly submerged in groundwater at Floyd County’s Plant Hammond.  

The permit is the first to be finalized under Georgia’s state-run coal ash disposal permitting program. More than 1 million tons of toxic coal ash sit at the site in an unlined pit near the Coosa River in northwest Georgia.

The decision can be appealed within 30 days.