ATLANTA — The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL) and Sierra Club, is challenging a move by Georgia regulators that the SELC said would allow a biomass wood pellet plant to double its pollution limits without complying with Clean Air Act requirements.

On July 3, Telfair Forest Products, a wood pellet manufacturing plant in Lumber City, Geogia, received approval from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to modify an Air Quality Permit. The permit would now allow the company to double its emissions of certain health and environment-harming pollutants without installing what the SELC called "legally required pollution controls or air impact analyses."

According to the environmental group, the permit allows Telfair Forest Products to become the largest emitter of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Georgia while not having undergone the required permitting procedures. The EPD also greenlit this facility becoming the highest-emitting wood pellet plant in the nation by a significant margin, producing more than twice the level of VOCs as compared to a majority of its larger competitors.

“EPD got this one wrong. Twice we gave regulators detailed explanations about why this permit request is illegal and dangerous for citizens of Telfair County and they chose to look the other way,” said Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney in SELC’s Atlanta office.

On TFP's website, wood pellets do not appear to be a product line with the prominent product being wood shavings for horse farms. However, Fram Renewable Fuels, which in 2005 was established in Hazlehurst, Georgia, with the idea of "being a significant, reliable and sustainable supplier of wood pellets to the growing European industrial market," lists TFP as a mill in which they are working together to supply wood pellets. According to Fram's website, "Recently an opportunity to expand the operations of Fram was realized with TFP. To further utilize the capacity of TFP, the decision was made to add a wood pelleting facility to its operation. This decision was based on the excess capacity of the existing infrastructure at TFP as well as the current and projected growth in the wood pellet market. TFP and Fram will work closely to ensure that the result will further enhance both company portfolios. Wood pellets manufactured at TFP meet the quality specifications to be used residentially as part of the EN Plus program. The addition of this facility to Fram’s portfolio will allow sales diversity within the European domestic market. 

“Clean air is a basic human right,” said Codi Norred, executive director of GIPL. “As a matter of justice and accountability, we cannot let these actions by Telfair Forest Products and the EPD stand. It is unacceptable to harm the health and well-being of Georgians, especially those most overburdened by the effects of climate change and pollution.”

“By allowing this facility to double its emissions, the Georgia EPD is sacrificing the health and well-being of the residents of Telfair County, who are already burdened by years of environmental injustices,” said G Webber, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Director. “Challenging this permit is about making sure that all Georgia communities, including Telfair residents, are protected from corporate polluters and their enablers at the EPD.”

Biomass energy is the process of cutting down trees, turning them into wood pellets, and then burning them for power. The biomass industry claims this process is clean energy, but in reality, burning forests for electricity releases more climate-warming pollution than burning coal, all while degrading Southern forests and harming nearby communities.  

These dangerous plants are often sited near communities of color that are already overburdened with industrial pollution, continuing a long history of environmental injustice and racism in the South. Telfair County is one of the poorest in Georgia (153rd out of 159 counties). Lumber City has a population that is more than 70 percent Black and in the 86th percentile (nationwide) for individuals with low incomes.

Biomass energy has an outsized impact on the South, which is home to dozens of wood pellet plants. These facilities turn trees into wood pellets which are then shipped overseas to countries in Europe and Asia where they are burned for power. Even worse, wood pellet facilities frequently violate their permits, making them even more dangerous to nearby residents.

SELC is challenging this permit in Georgia’s Office of Administrative Hearings, the process required by state law before challenging a state-issued permit in Georgia’s court system.