During a town hall meeting at Maynard Baptist Church on Monday night, a Georgia newspaper owner told about 200 Monroe County citizens, including three Monroe County Commissioners, about his personal battle to keep toxic coal ash from being dumped in his hometown of Jesup.
Dink NeSmith, owner of the Wayne County-based “The Press-Sentinel”, said he learned in early 2016 that the country’s second largest waste management service, Phoenix, Ariz.-based Republic Services, had applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a rail yard at a local landfill in order to receive up to 10,000 tons of coal ash daily. When NeSmith’s paper discovered the plan, he likened the fight that followed to a David vs. Goliath feud in which little Jesup took on big industry with his newspaper serving as the “slingshot.”
NeSmith, who intends to chronicle the years-long fight in an upcoming book entitled, “Kicking Ash and Taking Names”, said he has written 107 columns about the issue. The paper’s anti-dumping campaign ultimately proved successful as NeSmith proudly noted that not one ounce of additional coal ash has been dumped in the landfill and not one inch of rail spur has been constructed for that purpose. NeSmith said had Republic Services’ plan come to fruition, Wayne County could have been the largest coal ash dumping ground in the U.S.
NeSmith said despite Jesup’s success in keeping coal ash out, Georgia has continued to be a popular state for companies to dump coal ash in large part because the state General Assembly rejected legislation in 2018 that would have raised the cost of housing coal in a landfill from $1 per ton to $2.50 per ton. NeSmith termed the arrangement a “sweetheart deal” for coal ash producer Georgia Power, saying, “For decades Georgia Power has gotten pretty much what they want.”
NeSmith said his goal in telling his story is not to condemn power companies but to ensure business practices that are safe for their neighbors. He lauded Monroe County citizens for standing up to Georgia Power in their desire for the company to put a liner inside its ash ponds to prevent coal ash from seeping into nearby ground water. He added that Juliette citizens’ recent trip to the Georgia State Capitol in support of stricter legislation on coal ash containment was proof that they are fighting to do something about the issue. “Juliette, I’m proud of you,” NeSmith said. “You have stood and stood up and said, ‘We don’t want to be a dumping ground. We don’t want our water poisoned.’”
NeSmith encouraged Monroe County citizens to continue speaking out about their desire for clean water, noting that with the Georgia General Assembly’s Crossover Day on which bills pass between the House and Senate upcoming on Thursday, it’s more important than ever that citizens make their voices heard. NeSmith said there are presently a handful of bills up for consideration concerning coal ash containment, including House Bill 756 and Senate Bill 297. Monroe County Commissioners made a public endorsement for both of those bills, which would require liners in coal ash ponds, at their most recent meeting on March 3.
In addition to NeSmith’s speech, Monroe County Commission Chairman Greg Tapley and District 3 Commissioner John Ambrose, who represents Juliette, updated citizens on what Commissioners are doing about contaminated water concerns. Tapley touted his visit last week to Washington, D.C., saying that his meetings with staffers of U.S. Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and U.S. Representative Austin Scott has opened the channels of communication about potential state and federal funding so Monroe County can extend county water to affected citizens. Tapley also told citizens that with assistance from Georgia House District 141 Representative Dale Washburn, Georgia Power has agreed to allow Duke University professor Dr. Avner Vengosh to test wells on site at Plant Scherer as part of his independent analysis into contaminated wells.
Meanwhile, Ambrose encouraged affected citizens to contact their state and federal representatives about the issue themselves and not expect their neighbors to do it for them. Following Ambrose’s comment, attendees signed postcards distributed by a citizen, Gini Lynn Bruner, to be mailed to state legislators prior to Crossover Day indicating their desire for coal ash cleanup.
District 2 Commissioner Eddie Rowland, who has been meeting regularly to update Juliette residents Karl Cass and Paul Lindner, on the county’s efforts on the matter, was also in attendance at Monday night’s meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting, Rowland collected questionnaires filled out by Monroe County citizens wanting to have their private wells tested by Duke University. More than 100 private wells in close proximity to Plant Scherer will be tested in the coming months with the first 12 to 18 to be evaluated beginning this Saturday when Duke doctoral student Rachel Coyte is expected to visit Monroe County for the first time.
Fletcher Sams, Executive Director of the non-profit Altamaha Riverkeeper, the organization which brought the well contamination issue to the forefront in recent months, thanked Monroe County Commissioners for what they’ve done to provide a solution to a complex situation. Sams said, “If we had a County Commission like this where I live, we’d have a lot less problems.”
