Georgia communities mobilize against expansion of foul-smelling wood-burning energy

Exhaust from Georgia Renewable Power’s wood-burning biomass plant in Madison County prompted state legislators to pass a law in 2021 against burning railroad ties to generate electricity. (Georgia Recorder)

A group of residents and environmentalists are fighting to prevent the world’s largest wood pellet plant from coming to a predominantly Black and Hispanic community in south Georgia.

The Southern Environmental Law Center and Concerned Citizens of Cook County are asking a judge to revoke an air quality permit for the planned Adel plant on the grounds that the state Environmental Protection Division did not take into consideration the serious health risks that the pollution would pose to those living closest to it.

The Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings could hold a hearing on the appeal before the end of the year for what community advocates say is another industrial project that would perpetuate a legacy of environmental injustice.