Group eyes Army Corps of Engineers in fight for GA Hyundai project

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

0 4 minutes read

A coastal Georgia conservation group notified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Monday that it will sue to stop work on Hyundai Motor Company's soon-to-open electric vehicle manufacturing plant. doors near Savannah.

In a letter of intent filed Monday, the Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) informed USACE that it is contesting the October 2022 approval of a permit that helped pave the way for the $7.6 million project dollars in Bryan County.

The organization accuses USACE of “failing to complete required steps and neglecting water supply issues during the permitting process” for the 2,500-acre site.

The federal Clean Water Act requires USACE to collect relevant information and analyze permit applications that impact or disturb “waters of the United States,” including wetlands.

“Despite major updates and changes to permit applications between 2019 and 2022, USACE has not reconsidered these additional substantial impacts,” ORK said Monday.

Chief among these changes was the addition of nearly 600 acres to the project. The 2019 site analysis on which the permit application was based should have been revisited to take into account the potential implications of an expanded operation, ORK argued.

“The procedural planning steps required for this project have not been properly completed and, therefore, all activity related to this project must be immediately halted until these crucial steps are properly completed,” ORK states in its letter addressed to Lieutenant Colonel Sott A. Spellmon, Commanding General and Chief of Engineers; Col. Ronald J. Sturgeon, USAC Savannah District commander and engineer; and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Quality problems:Industry, residential development threaten Savannah's drinking water sources, report says

6.6 million gallons per day

The organization also disputed USACE's findings that “it would be reasonable to assume that Bryan County's (water) supply is sufficient” to support the plant and associated growth and “would not require withdrawals Water or Permit” from the Georgia Division of Environmental Protection.

The applicants – Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority Secretary Trip Tollison and Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson – knew months before the permit was approved that the Hyundai plant and development related would require up to 6.6 million gallons of water. of water per day and the drilling of four new wells.

This information was included in a confidential “letter of intent” dated April 25, 2022 addressed to Robert Boehringer, managing partner of the consulting firm KPMG International. That letter, which outlines plans for the Hyundai project, was also signed by Tollison (who is also president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority) and Wilson.

However, the water needs were not mentioned in the permit application, also signed by Tollison and Wilson and filed 12 days after the letter, on June 7, 2022.

USACE approved the permit, including findings that no additional water or wells would be needed, almost four months later on October 4, 2022.

Asked in March as part of a Savannah Morning News investigation into the process, a USACE Savannah District spokeswoman said the corps had no reason to think otherwise.

“We rely on the information made available to us during the permitting process,” Cheri Pritchard said in an email response. “Information regarding impacts to water supplies, such as the information provided in the letter (of intent) you shared, is very helpful during the permit review process. This information was not previously provided to us during this process.

That shouldn't matter, ORK said Monday.

“It was thought that existing water utilities could meet demand, but it is USACE's job to challenge that assumption and demand more from the applicant,” said Ben Kirsch, ORK's legal director.

When asked about the process in March, Tollison said the application met all the requirements.

More water:Four wells may not be enough for Savannah-area Hyundai plant, state says

Impacted aquifer

The new wells will draw water from the Florida Aquifer in Bulloch County and pump it to the Hyundai site, which the company plans to begin operating later this year.

The overwhelming local demand on the aquifer — part of a 100,000-square-mile groundwater source spanning all of Florida and parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi — has led to saltwater intrusion near Savannah and prompted state environmental officials to cap it. withdrawals in 2008.

The boundaries covered Chatham, Bryan, Liberty and part of Effingham counties.

To meet Hyundai-related demand, the depth of the aquifer could decrease by up to 19 feet near wells, and private wells could decrease by up to 15 feet, according to Georgia EDP projections.

The potential impact within a 5-mile radius of the Hyundai facility prompted EPD to include homeowner protections among the conditions attached to state permits for new wells. Under the provisions, Bryan and Bulloch counties will be required to establish a fund to assist well owners who experience “unreasonable impacts” from increased extraction.

The available pool is expected to start at $500,000, Tollison said.

As the largest economic development investment in Georgia history, the Hyundai project should be subject to increased scrutiny, Ogeechee Riverkeeper and ORK Executive Director Damon Mullis insisted Monday.

“One of ORK’s directives is to be a watchdog for water resources and make sure permitting processes are done correctly,” Mullis said. “When we discover that permit applicants are hiding important information in an application and the permitting agency failed to do due diligence, we call them out and use the law to hold them accountable.”

ORK's letter also names the U.S. Treasury Department, which has shelled out millions of dollars to finance the projects' infrastructure.

Lina Portman

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