Amid outcry, Georgia county approves water deals for Hyundai plant

The first was a “memorandum of understanding” outlining which residents might qualify for county assistance with well upgrades prompted by the Hyundai plant’s consumption. The second was an “intergovernmental agreement” between Bryan and Bulloch counties detailing operation of the shared water and sewer infrastructure planned to deliver water to Hyundai, plus the thousands of new residents and businesses the factory is expected to bring to the region.

Both measures passed with a 4-2 margin.

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Hyundai’s Metaplant — Georgia’s largest-ever economic development project, which the company has promised will employ 8,500 — is located in north Bryan County, about 20 miles west of Savannah. But Bryan County, like others in coastal Georgia, has groundwater pumping restrictions in place to keep saltwater from seeping into the underlying aquifer.

Just across the county line in Bulloch County, those constraints don’t exist. To get around the groundwater limits, officials in both counties have reached tentative agreements to drill four new wells in Bulloch County to serve Hyundai. If approved by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), the wells could be permitted to suck a combined 6.65 million gallons of water per day from the Floridan aquifer.

Farmers and other residents living near the proposed well sites have voiced concerns about how the additional withdrawals would affect their shallow wells. EPD has not issued the permits for the wells yet, but in February, agency staff shared modeling with the public showing the pumping planned to supply Hyundai could lower the water table by as much as 19 feet within a five-mile radius of the wells.

For roughly 90 minutes Thursday, Bulloch County commissioners got an earful from worried residents, who said they fear the millions of gallons set to be pulled out from underneath the county could compromise their own water supply.

The memorandum of understanding lays out the broad strokes of a plan for the counties to compensate Bulloch County residents who could be affected. The document says the counties agree to “mitigate for unreasonable impacts” to wells affected within a five-mile radius of the Interstate 16 and Highway 119 interchange, a rough midpoint in between the four planned well locations.

At the meeting, several in attendance said the agreement did little to protect those who could be affected.

“If you were truly working for the citizens of Bulloch County, that five-mile radius needs to be the whole county,” Cassandra Mikell, a local resident, told the commission. “If you are so certain that it won’t affect the wells outside that five-mile radius, then so be it — it’s no sweat to extend the protection zone.”

During the meeting, Bulloch County staff said the memorandum was simply a first step at crafting protections that could be amended later on.

Other residents and environmental advocates criticized what they described as a rushed process to bring the measures to a vote. Notice of Thursday’s meeting was provided just over a day in advance.

On Tuesday, a vote on the same measures was abruptly called off by the board, after members of the public said they were notified of the meeting and the agreements up for consideration barely more than 24 hours beforehand.

Tom Couch, the Bulloch County manager, said at Thursday’s meeting that EPD is set to issue draft permits for the wells in the coming days, which is why the votes on the measures were organized quickly.

EPD said it has no set timeline on the permits and said there will be a public comment period when the draft permits are released.

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Credit: Stephen B. Morton for The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Other controversies, meanwhile, are also swirling around the plan to supply Hyundai’s water.

Earlier this week, the Savannah Morning News reported state and local officials omitted the Hyundai Metaplant’s projected 6.6 million gallons per day of water demand from an application submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a key water permit needed for the project, known as a 404 permit.

Among the parties involved in submitting the application were Trip Tollison, the president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA) and secretary for the multicounty I-16 development authority, as well as the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

In a statement, Tollison said the authority has been “working with local governments and the state on how to best serve the site with water since the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is responsible for drinking water and water usage, not the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.”

“We have been and remain committed to doing this the right way,” Tollison added.

A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Economic Development said: “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received accurate information in response to all questions asked related to the 404 permit.”

Earlier in June, the Ogeechee Riverkeeper filed a notice of its intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Treasury Department over allegations that the two government agencies failed to properly assess the environmental impacts of the $7.6 billion Metaplant.

Cheri Pritchard, a spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah district office, declined to comment directly on the permit application the Corps received, citing the potential litigation. Pritchard did note that the Corps is “committed to protecting the nation’s aquatic resources and navigation capacity, while allowing reasonable development through fair and balanced decisions.”