The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday that it is beginning the “re-evaluation” of a key environmental permit for four proposed wells in the Floridan Aquifer that would supply up to 6.6 million gallons of water per day to Hyundai Motor Company’s manufacturing plant in Bryan County and related construction projects around the approximately 2,500-acre site.
The move is the USACE’s response to a threatened legal challenge by a conservation group on the Georgia coast to the South Korean automaker’s regulatory approval to operate electric vehicles and batteries near Savannah.
In a letter dated Friday, USACE points out that state and local development officials failed to disclose the site’s planned water use in their application for a federal permit required under the U.S. Clean Water Act.
The Corps adds that it later learned through drafting state groundwater withdrawal permits from the Georgia Department of Environmental Protection that the four wells in Bulloch County would withdraw more than 6.6 million gallons per day from the aquifer at maximum capacity.
“The Corps has determined that new information has emerged regarding the project’s potential impacts on municipal and private water supplies and that a reassessment of our permitting decision with respect to our determination of impacts to water supplies is warranted,” the USACE states.
“Concerns about water supply overlooked”
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper organization notified the USACE in June that it intended to challenge the permit issued in October 2022 that cleared the way for the $7.6 billion Hyundai project.
The organization accused the USACE of “failing to take the necessary steps and overlooking water supply concerns during the permitting process” for the site.
The Clean Water Act requires the USACE to collect relevant information and review permit applications that impact or disturb “waters of the United States,” including wetlands.
The organization challenged the USACE’s determination that it was “reasonable to assume that Bryan County’s (water) supply would be sufficient” to support the plant and associated growth and that “no water withdrawals or permits” from the EPD would be required.
The applicants – Trip Tollison, secretary of the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, and Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development – knew months before approval that the Hyundai plant and related construction would require up to 6.6 million gallons of water per day and the drilling of four new wells.
This information was contained in a confidential letter of intent dated April 25, 2022, addressed to Robert Boehringer, managing partner of the consulting firm KPMG International. This letter, which outlined the 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 requirement was not mentioned in the application for a federal permit, also signed by Tollison and Wilson and submitted 12 days after the letter, on June 7, 2022.
Nearly four months later, on October 4, 2022, the USACE approved a revised version of the permit, which, among other things, determined that neither additional water nor additional wells were required.
The Corps’ letter on Friday is addressed to Tollison and Wilson.
The reassessment decision requires JDA to submit an impact assessment of the megasite’s water supply wells to USACE. JDA must demonstrate that the wells will not impact the Floridan Aquifer, the people who depend on it, and the water resources and environment. The assessment will also include “all collected ground and surface water models/data.” USACE will then evaluate this report and determine if the permit needs to be adjusted. Depending on the results, JDA may also be required to pay compensation for any resulting impacts.
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) organization welcomed the Corps’ decision to reconsider the permit.
“These considerations should have been included from day one,” said Damon Mullis, Riverkeeper and executive director of ORK, “but we are encouraged to see that USACE will now finally fully consider these issues. Once all the data is on the table, we urge the Corps to independently and thoroughly review and verify this information in its reassessment and to be transparent with the public during this reassessment process.”
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“It is reasonable to ask”
A spokeswoman for the USACE office in Savannah did not respond to a request for comment on the re-evaluation of the permit or the potential impact of the process on the Hyundai project.
Tollison, meanwhile, defended the application process for federal approval.
“The Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority is working with local authorities and the state on how best to provide water to the site, as the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is responsible for drinking water and water use, not the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” Tollison said in June. “We were and are committed to getting this right.”
But experts — and comments from the federal agency responsible for enforcing the Clean Water Act — suggest that Tollison’s answer misses the point.
While the Clean Water Act makes it clear that states are responsible for regulating drinking water, it also directs the USACE to consider “likely impacts, including cumulative impacts” on factors such as “water supply and protection” in its environmental impact assessment.
In other words, USACE cannot dictate where a project gets its water from or how much it can use. But the Corps is expected to consider those factors when reviewing permit applications under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, said Stan Meiburg, a former deputy commissioner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who served at the agency for nearly 40 years.
“Because such impacts should be considered, they should be considered using the best information possible,” said Meiburg, now executive director of the Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest University. “The conclusion could not be different, but it is reasonable to ask the applicant to provide accurate information and for the EPA and the Corps to consider it.”
While the EPA declined to comment specifically on the Hyundai approval, it agreed with Meiburg’s assessment.
“Yes, when reviewing a proposed project for compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Corps and EPA consider the project’s potential impacts on drinking water supplies,” the agency’s Washington office said in an email response.
This part of the landmark law regulates “the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands.”
This was true of the Hyundai project because the site contained more than 300 acres of “jurisdictional wetlands” under the Clean Water Act.
However, USACE must also consider the impacts on waters surrounding the site, including those potentially affected by the new wells.
Mieburg noted that significant withdrawals from underground aquifers can impact surface waters, which are the focus of Section 404 permits.
In its letter dated Friday, USACE asked Tollison and Wilson to “provide an assessment of the project’s potential impacts on municipal and private water supplies, including whether the expected drawdown of the Florida Aquifer would result in depletion of water resources.”
John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. Reach him at 912-652-0213 or [email protected].
