Over 20 years ago, the Wayne County, Ga, Commission approved a
regional facility to accept household waste –the Broadhurst Landfill. In
1996, the landfill was purchased by Republic Services, a publicly
traded company that owns almost 200 active landfills across the country.
Republic then began to purchase land, until the 1996 tract of 902 acres
had expanded to 2,200.
January 2016: Central Virginia
Properties, a Spartanburg, SC company, (and a subsidiary of Republic),
filed an application with the Army Corps of Engineers to “develop” 25
acres of wetlands south of Jesup, in Wayne County, near the Broadhurst
landfill. They planned to lay a rail spur adjacent to the CSX line, so
they could bring in over 100 gondola cars per day of something called
“CCR” via rail, 100 gondola cars a day. CCR = Coal Combustion Residuals
Meanwhile, “The state is investigating a “statistically significant
increase” in vanadium that was detected at a groundwater monitoring well
at the Chesser Island Road Landfill near the Okefenokee Swamp. The
levels of vanadium have been “generally increasing” since 2012 at the
massive Waste Management (Republic) dump in Charlton County, according
to a March 2016 letter from the Georgia Environmental Protection
Division.
Millions of pounds of coal ash — which also contains
arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury — have been accepted at the
landfill.” Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 16, 2016
Camden
County Landfill accepted CCR (including the Jacksonville Electric
Authority coal ash by-product known as “EZBase”) until 2009. The
untested and potentially unsafe EZBase coats the following areas in
Camden County:
- Osprey Cove Golf Course (where it was subsequently
removed as a condition of sale. A resident informs me that the paths
were crumbling and people were complaining of headaches and respiratory
issues).
- Cumberland Harbour roads (in the process of being removed and replaced)
- The Cumberland Harbour fire department parking lot.
- Hammock Cove (adjacent to Park Place apartments).
- The Reserve at Park Place.
- Bridge Pointe residential development.
- Gilligan’s Island (surrounding a spring-fed lake).
- Alvah Brazell Rd. N. (Kingsland).
- 1+ acre commercial parking lot on Point Peter Rd.
- The cities of Kingsland and Woodbine.
- Camden County Landfill (accepted coal ash until 2009)
**All areas have been confirmed by city and county staff. It is
expected that further inquiries will reveal that many more areas are
likewise affected.
The EPD will accept written
comments regarding coal ash (CCR) until close of business (4:30 p.m.) on
Aug. 10. Written comments may be emailed to
EPDComments@dnr.state.ga.us or sent via regular mail addressed to Branch
Chief, Land Protection Branch, 4244 International Parkway, Suite 104,
Atlanta, Georgia 30354.
If you choose to email your comments, please
use “CCR Rule amendments” in the subject line to help ensure that your
comments will be forwarded to the correct staff.
For more information, contact Land Protection Branch, Solid Waste Management Program, at 404-362-2696.
