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Georgia eyes higher coal ash fee; residents seek more action

Gloria Hammond, a resident of Juliette, Georgia, shows off water tests that display contaminants in her homes' well at the Georgia capitol on Monday, February 24, 2020. Georgia Power Co., which operates a nearby coal-fired power plant, says its monitoring wells show no contamination from a coal ash pond. The Senate passed Senate Bill 123 on Monday by a vote of 52-2, sending it to the House for more work. The measure would raise the fee for dumping coal ash from $1 a ton to $2.50 a ton, equaling what it costs to dispose of other kinds of garbage at Georgia landfills. (Jeff Amy/Associated Press) Gloria Hammond, a resident of Juliette, Georgia, shows off water tests that display contaminants in her homes' well at the Georgia capitol on Monday, February 24, 2020. Georgia Power Co., which operates a nearby coal-fired power plant, says its monitoring wells show no contamination from a coal ash pond. The Senate passed Senate Bill 123 on Monday by a vote of 52-2, sending it to the House for more work. The measure would raise the fee for dumping coal ash from $1 a ton to $2.50 a ton, equaling what it costs to dispose of other kinds of garbage at Georgia landfills. (Jeff Amy/Associated Press)

By JEFF AMY / Associated Press February 25, 2020 4 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia senators are passing a measure that would increase the fee for dumping coal ash in the state.

The Senate passed Senate Bill 123 on Monday by a vote of 52-2, sending it to the House for more work.

The measure would raise the fee for dumping coal ash from $1 a ton to $2.50 a ton, equaling what it costs to dispose of other kinds of garbage at Georgia landfills. Lawmakers raised the fee for other garbage in 2018 but left the fee for coal ash at $1.

Coal ash has become a flashpoint in the current General Assembly session and in the state at large. A 2018 report by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice found contaminated groundwater near 11 of 12 coal-fired power plants. The refuse contains heavy metals and other contaminates that can leach into groundwater. Near Georgia Power Co.’s Plant Scherer in Juliette, environmentalists have been conducting tests that have found residents have contaminated well water.

More than 30 Juliette residents traveled to the Georgia Capitol on Monday to demand that all coal ash be dug up and placed in lined landfills and that their community be connected to a central water system.