A U.S. federal agency’s decision to reconsider its issuance of a key environmental permit for Hyundai Motor Company’s electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facility near Savannah could impact how much water can be pumped from hundreds of feet below ground to supply the site, experts say.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday it had initiated a “reevaluation” of actions that would clear the way for the automaker’s $7.6 billion project in Bryan County. The USACE noted that it did not take into account the planned pumping of up to 6.6 million gallons of water per day from the Floridan Aquifer to support Hyundai’s operations and expected construction projects nearby.
“I anticipate the Corps could impose permit restrictions that would limit withdrawals from the aquifer,” said Stan Meiburg, a former deputy commissioner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who spent nearly 40 years with the agency and now serves as executive director of the Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest University. “This could lead to the Hyundai plant either reassessing its actual water needs — and exploring water reuse options — or tapping additional surface water supplies to meet the project’s needs.”
Hyundai says it plans to use treated wastewater exclusively for irrigation at the Hyundai site. Development authority officials say it would take a quarter of a century to finance, permit, design and build a connection between the site and the nearest surface water treatment plant.
“New information has emerged”
The Georgia Department of Environmental Protection has applied for permits for four wells in Bulloch County that would extract water and send it to Bryan County for use on the approximately 2,500-acre Hyundai property and the surrounding area.
However, state and local development officials did not mention the planned wells or the anticipated demand in their application for a key permit required under the U.S. Clean Water Act. As a result, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) concluded that the Hyundai project would have “negligible impacts” on local water supplies and that no state permits were required for additional water withdrawals.
“This decision was made based on the information you provided to us during our review of your application,” USACE said in a letter sent Friday to Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and Trip Tollison, director of the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority. “Based on the release of the Georgia EPD draft permits, 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 permit decision regarding our determination of impacts to water supplies is warranted.”
The USACE letter asks Wilson and Tollison to assess how the Hyundai site – where the company plans to begin production early next year – will impact groundwater and surface water.
“We have received a request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide additional data on the proposed water supply for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America,” Carter Infinger, chair of the Wilson, Tollison and Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, said in a joint statement. “We appreciate the diligence USACE is taking to ensure all information is included in its permit, and as we have done with all USACE requests, we will provide this information as quickly as possible.”
“Our plan will provide water to HMGMA while protecting and preserving the local environment, and we remain committed to doing it the right way.”
Bryan is obligated to supply water to the Hyundai complex through a joint development agreement and is leaving the county because it is subject to state withdrawal limits designed to limit the intrusion of salt water into the Savannah aquifer.
EPD estimates that Floridan water depths near the new wells will drop by as much as 19 feet, and that private well levels could drop by as much as 15 feet.
More: Experts: The government should have known and been informed about the water needs of the Hyundai site
Threat of legal action
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper organization filed a notice of intent (NOI) in June stating that it intends to challenge the Corps’ approval of the Hyundai permit issued in October 2022.
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 information and analyze 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 Corps obviously took the NOI seriously and felt that the decision needed to be reviewed based on information that was not included in the original permit application,” said Meiburg, the former deputy EPA director.
Clear the way: More than 100 turtles were rescued from caves on the Hyundai site before construction began
“Need for a new public announcement”
The USACE letter indicates that it will “likely” initiate an additional environmental impact assessment of the Hyundai site based on the water information, said Patrick Parenteau, an environmental law expert.
“There is another question about the need for a new public notice because the original (application) did not mention the wells and did not give the public an opportunity to comment, which is a requirement of the Clean Water Act and Corps rules,” added Parenteau, a professor of law and senior fellow for climate policy at Vermont Law School’s Environmental Law Center.
Tollison, who is also president of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, told the Savannah Morning News in June that the projected water needs were not included in the permit application because they are regulated at the state, not federal, level.
“We were and remain committed to getting this right,” he said at the time. “Our plan will provide water to HMGMA while protecting and preserving the local environment, and we remain committed to getting this right.”
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.
“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 EPA’s Washington office said in an email.
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.
“Potential to avoid litigation”
Representatives of the Ogeechee Riverkeeper Organization (ORK) met with Corps officials in June to discuss their memorandum of understanding. The meeting also discussed “a path forward, including the possibility of avoiding litigation,” according to a USACE letter Friday.
Damon Mullis, executive director of ORK and Riverkeeper, said he welcomed the Corps’ review of the permit for the Hyundai site.
“These considerations should have been included from day one,” he said of the projected water needs. “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.”
Construction work at Hyundai will not be affected by the reassessment for now, said Cheri Pritchard, a spokeswoman for the USACE Savannah District.
“The permit is still valid and we have not asked the permit holder to stop work,” she noted. “As we have requested additional information from the permit holder by letter, the timeline for the review is currently unknown.”
John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. Reach him at 912-652-0213 or [email protected].
