A week after production commenced at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America near Savannah, state environmental officials on Monday approved permits for four wells eventually expected to send 4 million gallons of water per day to the Bryan County facility.
In all, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division permits allow for the withdrawal of as much as 6.6 million gallons per day from the Bulloch County wells.
Bryan and Bulloch were each issued two permits to take the water from the Floridan Aquifer , an extensive reservoir covering 100,000 square miles beneath all of Florida and parts of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.
The wells are in Bulloch because Bryan is in a so-called red zone where pumping is restricted to limit saltwater entering the aquifer near Hilton Head Island.
EPD says there is no risk of saltwater intrusion into the aquifer in Bulloch County.
Conditions tied to the permits include a commitment to abandon the wells within 25 years.
“The permittee must work to expeditiously and thoroughly plan for the timely provision of surface water or other water alternatives, such as reuse water, as a replacement for the Floridan aquifer groundwater withdrawals authorized by this permit, the construction of all infrastructure necessary to deliver quantities of such alternative sourced water to the Bryan County Mega-Site and associated developments sufficient to replace the groundwater withdrawals authorized under this permit, and the funding sources necessary to deliver and utilize the alternative sourced water,” the permits say.
The new sources must be “sufficient to provide for the water needs of the Bryan County Mega-Site and the existing and future water needs of any additional industrial, commercial, and residential growth which may occur in the Bryan County Mega-Site area,” EPD adds.
At full capacity, Hyundai plans to manufacture 300,000 electric vehicles per year and employ 8,500 workers at the 16-million-square-foot facility.
Riding the rails: Trains to transport 200,000 vehicles a year from Hyundai plant near Savannah, company says
Potential impact on private wells
EPD estimates the depth of the Floridan will drop by as much as 19 feet near the new wells, and that private wells could decline by up to 15 feet inside the “cone of influence” created by the withdrawals.
The permits also mandate the creation of a fund to cover the costs of adjustments to existing private wells within a 5-mile radius of the new withdrawal sites if they are adversely affected by a corresponding drop in aquifer levels.
A consultant for the counties told development officials last month that there are an estimated 1,100 private wells within the mitigation area, but it’s unclear how many of them tap into the aquifer.
The Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority , the Bryan and Bulloch County development authorities, and Hyundai have each contributed $250,000 to the well fund.
“We appreciate that any time new wells are proposed, nearby residents will be concerned about the impact on their homes and properties, and we hope they will be reassured by the depth of the analysis the Georgia EPD has provided,” the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority said in a statement through spokeswoman Angela Hendrix. “It validates what we have seen since we started analyzing this site 10 years ago: there is enough water to support industry and agriculture while protecting and preserving the environment.”
Many residents and farmers in the area say that assessment disregards the potential impact on their wells if pumps have to be lowered or new wells drilled altogether.
One resident who lives near the Hyundai site said she paid $70,000 for a new well when her old one went dry.
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper organization (ORK), one of the most vocal opponents of the wells, accused the state of prioritizing industry over people with the issuance of the permits.
"These withdrawals will continue to strain our shared Floridan Aquifer, hindering the recovery of the cone of depression, while drinking water suppliers in our region have been required to reduce their withdrawals," said Ben Kirsch, ORK's legal director. "EPD and the State of Georgia cannot continue to allow industry to monopolize our limited, pristine groundwater. At the same time, area residents are forced to increase their reliance on treated surface water for drinking, and agricultural producers face water supply uncertainties and increased production costs."
The city of Savannah said last month that it plans to add 42 million gallons per day in water treatment capacity over the next two decades – all of it from the Savannah River, not the aquifer. About 20 million gallons of the city’s current 58-million-gallon-per-day capacity comes from the Floridan.
Feds revisit crucial permit
While state approval for the wells is settled, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues its “reevaluation” of a key environmental permit for the $7.6 billion Hyundai project.
USACE’s second look, which began in August, came in response to a threatened legal challenge by ORK of regulatory approval for the South Korean automaker’s manufacturing complex.
USACE noted that state and local development officials omitted the site’s projected water use in their application for a federal permit required by the U.S. Clean Water Act .
“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,” USACE noted.
Experts say one option for USACE is to further limit how much water can be withdrawn from the four new wells.
Kirsch said Tuesday that ORK has asked the Corps for "clarification and details about the reevaluation process and procedures, but has not yet received answers."
John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or jdeem@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia issues permits to pump millions of gallons of water daily to Hyundai complex
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