Georgia Pellet Mill Drops Expansion Permit After Environmental Groups Challenge It

The owner of a wood pellet mill in Middle Georgia appears to have given up on a major expansion after environmental groups took legal action against it.

Earlier this year, the state Environmental Protection Division approved a permit change for Telfair Forest Products in Lumber City that would have nearly doubled the plant's allowable emissions of hazardous air pollutants. In August, environmental groups challenged that approval before the Office of State Administrative Hearings. They argued the state had sidestepped federal Clean Air Act requirements by altering the company's permit without demanding proper analyses or pollution controls.

This month, the same agency revoked the amendment at the company's request, according to public records supplied by the plaintiffs and the EPD. The mill's original permit, which does not include the higher emissions limits, remains in force.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, which brought the challenge for the Sierra Club and Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, said in a Thursday statement that it would withdraw its objection. A letter from the EPD, provided by the law center, said Telfair did not plan to contest the revocation.

Telfair could not immediately be reached for comment. The EPD supplied a copy of the company's request to regulators, which gave no explanation for it. The agency did not comment on the case and did not immediately answer questions about possible inspections or pending enforcement actions at the mill.

Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney in the law center's Georgia office, said she did not know why Telfair sought the revocation. She noted that hearings were already under way when it did so, and that the center had recently added four claims alleging the company violated its permit, based on the company's own documents and testimony. "Just because they asked for (the revocation), doesn't mean they wanted it," Whitfield said. She called the outcome "a sigh of relief for the community," but added: "Time will tell, though, what it means and whether EPD is going to more rigorously enforce air quality laws."

Telfair is part of a family of pellet mill companies that have together paid tens of thousands of dollars in fines for violating their pollution permits.

G Webber, director of the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, welcomed the development but was critical of state regulators. "It is troubling that it took the threat of litigation for the EPD to do the right thing," Webber said in a statement.

The Southeastern United States, Georgia included, has seen wood pellet production surge over the past two decades, driven by overseas demand for the pellets as "biomass" fuel for power generation. Industry supporters say the pellets make use of timber waste from other forestry work, and some countries subsidize them as renewable energy because trees can be replanted. Critics call biomass a false climate solution, saying wood burns dirtier than coal and the world already faces a deforestation crisis. They also contend that the mills producing the pellets harm nearby communities.