Despite the impending rollout by year’s end of new electric vehicles from the massive Hyundai plant in Ellabell, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed Friday to reevaluate the Hyundai site permit.
In a letter dated Aug. 23, 2024, the corps requested additional information about water use from the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority and the Georgia Department of Economic Development, which jointly received the permit for the 2,500-acre site off I-16.
The permit is still valid and the corps has not requested that work on the Hyundai site stop, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District spokeswoman Cheri Pritchard wrote in an email.
“Based on recently obtained new information, we are taking another look at the project’s effects on water supply, including potential secondary effects that could have resulted from the additional demands on groundwater, as well as any effect that determination would have on our permit decision,” Pritchard wrote.
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper prompted the corps’ second look by filing a letter of intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for what it sees as deficiencies in permits for the site. That was in June. Corps representatives met with the Ogeechee Riverkeeper Damon Mullis and the group’s attorneys Aug. 9.
“We’re happy that our efforts could lead to this reevaluation,” said Ben Kirsch, legal director of the Ogeechee Riverkeeper. “But this all could have been avoided. And we wish it would have been included in the initial permit application so that these issues could have been addressed before wetlands were filled and before buildings went up. But you know, we’re happy that the corps is finally going to be able to look at this information and make some decisions around it.”
The corps initially determined the project would have “negligible impacts on municipal and private water supplies, and that no water withdrawal permits would be required from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division (Georgia EPD).” The agency relied on information the JDA and Georgia Department of Economic Development provided in their permit application.
But in July, state regulators released draft permits for four wells in the Floridan aquifer in Bulloch County that together are expected to provide 6.6 million gallons of water per day to the Hyundai Metaplant and associated developments.
“Based on the release of the Georgia EPD draft permits, the corps has determined that new information has surfaced regarding the effects the project may have on municipal and private water supplies, and that reevaluation of our permit decision regarding our effects determination for water supply is warranted,” the corps’ letter states.
Similarly, the riverkeeper commented on the site permit before it was finalized in 2022, but sharpened its focus on the water issue only more recently as the permitting of the wells – a responsibility of the Georgia EPD, not the corps – brought those concerns to light.
“We did submit comments previously and had some concerns about a seeming lack of information, but … you have to take the corps’ decision at some face value,” Kirsch said. “If they said that based on the application materials, we don’t see that there’s going to be a water supply issue, you have to believe them until the facts of the situation start to point to a different outcome.”
The wells have been controversial in Bulloch, a county whose nearly 700 miles of dirt roads and nearly 200,000 acres of farmland belie the rapid development it’s facing. EPD expects the wells could draw down nearby private wells by as much as 19 feet and is requiring the establishment of a mitigation fund to compensate well owners harmed by the Hyundai project.
The corps is now asking the development authorities to “show their work” as far as the quantities of water needed and how those withdrawals will affect the aquifer and other water bodies.
“(P)lease provide an assessment of effects the project may have on municipal and private water supplies, including whether the anticipated drawdown of the Floridan aquifer would result in any drainage of aquatic resources,” the letter states. “This assessment should include any groundwater and surface water modeling/data that has been collected regarding this issue. Please note, should the corps determine that the project would result in additional impacts to aquatic resources, the corps may modify the permit to include special conditions to compensate for these impacts.”
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper wants to see the assumptions behind the conclusions, too.
“Even with the other well processes, the EPD well permitting, there’s a lot of conclusions with not a lot of showing the work, or not enough to calm our fears,” Kirsch said.
“(Examining the assumptions) allows us to see whether there are going to be further impacts, either to water supply, domestic, agricultural or if there’s going to be a decrease in river water quantity, if there’s going to be wetlands or springs that dry up,” Kirsch said. “That information helps us to better advocate for what needs to happen around these projects.”
Commissioner Pat Wilson of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Chairman Carter Infinger of the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, and President and CEO Trip Tollison of the Savannah Economic Development Authority issued a joint statement indicating they will comply with the corps’ request for information:
“We have received a request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to provide additional data on the projected water supply for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA). We appreciate the USACE’s diligence to ensure that all information is being considered in its permit, and as we have done with all USACE requests, we will deliver this information as soon as possible. Our plan will provide water for HMGMA while protecting and preserving the local environment, and we remain committed to doing this the right way.”
Hyundai issued a similar statement. “We are confident that they will supply the relevant data in a timely manner, and we will assist them as needed,” it stated. “Hyundai has worked tirelessly with the relevant authorities to ensure we are good neighbors to those in the region and that our operations do not negatively impact the community’s water resources. HMGMA adheres to internationally recognized standards and guidelines to reduce environmental impacts and protect communities.”
The corps has not established a timeline for the review of the new data, Pritchard said.
This article originally appeared here on The Current: In-Depth Journalism for Coastal Georgia.
