Environmentalists challenge big expansion of Georgia wood pellet mill

Environmental groups are challenging Georgia regulators’ decision to allow a wood pellet mill in rural Middle Georgia that has a history of environmental violations to double its emissions of toxic air pollutants.

Telfair Forest Products in Lumber City has been cited by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) five times over the past 14 years and paid more than $50,000 in fines for violations that included exceeding pollution limits, failure to install required pollution controls, and failure to keep appropriate records and perform required testing, state records show.

In July, EPD issued Telfair a new permit that allows the company to increase its output of volatile organic compounds — some of which are known carcinogens — from an estimated 337 tons per year to 586 tons per year. The Telfair facility is located about 180 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed a petition Friday with the Office of State Administrative Hearings accusing the state of bypassing federal Clean Air Act requirements by issuing the permit without proper analyses or pollution controls. It was filed on behalf of Sierra Club and Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, two advocacy groups.

The center said its analysis shows that with the new expansion, the mill would become the highest emitting wood pellet plant in the nation by a significant margin, emitting more than twice as many pollutants as its larger competitors.

EPD declined to comment Friday. Neither Telfair nor its related companies, Fram Renewable Fuels and Beasley Forest Products, immediately responded to requests for comment.

Another pellet mill under Fram and Beasley, Hazlehurst Wood Pellets, in Hazlehurst, east of Lumber City, was fined $72,000 in May for failing to operate its equipment properly and operating new equipment without a permit, according to state records. The same mill was issued a fine for nearly $52,000 last year for similar violations . Despite recurring violations, the EPD also agreed to amend Hazlehurst’s permit in July to increase the total quantity of pellets it can manufacture. That facility is not included in the SELC’s complaint.

Over the past two decades, the timber-rich Southeast has seen a boom in the production of wood pellets. These pellets, also marketed as “biomass,” are used as fuel for burning, mostly in power plants overseas in countries that subsidize them as an alternative to fossil fuels. In 2023, the U.S. shipped about 10 million tons of pellets valued at $1.75 billion to more than a dozen countries, according to the U.S. Industrial Pellet Association.

Supporters of biomass say it should be considered a clean energy source because even though burning wood emits greenhouse gases, trees are renewable and planting enough of them could offset those emissions. The European Union and United Kingdom, in particular, have spent billions subsidizing pellets since 2009.

More recently, there have been signs that the industry’s winds are shifting. Climate scientists and conservation groups have been increasingly vocal in their opposition to biomass, which they characterize as a false solution that leads to deforestation and increases, rather than decreases, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Separately from the climate impacts, some communities where mills are located have also complained about respiratory and other health issues they blame on air pollution from the plants.

Biomass prices have also shot up. In March, the world’s largest pellet producer, Enviva, which owns one mill in Georgia and many others across the country, filed for bankruptcy protection. And while pellets have received renewable energy subsidies overseas, the U.S. Treasury Department has not yet said whether biomass would be eligible for renewable energy tax credits.

This coverage is supported by a partnership with Green South Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners. You can learn more and support our climate reporting by donating at ajc.com/donate/climate/

Get all the news about the Atlanta Braves delivered each morning. Sign up for Braves Report.