Special to The Beacon
ATLANTA — Satilla Riverkeeper and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed an amicus brief Wednesday, September 7 in the Office of State Administrative Hearings supporting the Board of Commissioners of Brantley County’s opposition to a proposed landfill situated next to sensitive wetlands and private drinking water wells.
The 180-page amicus brief names Richard E. Dunn, Director, Environmental Protection Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources as Respondent, along with Brantley County Development Partners, LLC. (BCPD) as Intervenor-Respondent. The Docket No. is 2228917-OSAH-EPD-SW-13-Schroer.
The Satilla Riverkeeper submitted the brief as amicus curiae to offer new arguments in support of Petitioner, Board of Commissioners of Brantley County, Georgia (“County Commissioners”) and in opposition to Respondent’s Motion to Dismiss in Part and Motion for Summary Determination in Part.
Satilla Riverkeeper stated it was denied the opportunity to provide meaningful input when it mattered the most — before local government decisions were made. The Riverkeeper says it was not notified County Commissioners were considering sites for a new waste disposal facility, nor afforded the opportunity to raise concerns until well after Commissioners voted to issue letters erroneously verifying BCDP’s facility was consistent with the SWMP (Solid Waste Management Plan).
The proposed landfill would be two miles from the Satilla River, 1.2 miles from the Little Satilla River, and would fill approximately 17.88 acres of wetlands with the Satilla River watershed.
Submitted as evidence and labeled “Exhibit E” is the Public Hearing held December 22, 2016 inside the Brantley County Courthouse recorded by Certified Court Reporter Colleen C. Lee (2799) of Gilbert & Jones Certified Court Reporters. The document is 96 pages covering the 2-hour, 15-minute hearing.
Located in a South Georgia neighborhood where many live below the poverty line, the landfill threatens the Brantley County community as well as the health of the Satilla River Basin.
Local officials and community members overwhelmingly oppose the landfill and have complained repeatedly they were not given timely and accurate information about the project. Despite this, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division issued a solid waste handling permit May 9, 2022 to Brantley County Development Partners, LLC to construct and operate a municipal solid waste landfill a stone’s throw from an elementary school.
The Brantley County Board of Commissioners is challenging the permit in administrative court, arguing the EPD illegally issued the permit in violation of public notice and involvement requirements and the County’s solid waste management plan.
“The public was denied the opportunity to provide input when it mattered the most — before local decisions about the landfill were made,” says Chris Bertrand, Satilla Riverkeeper. “Allowing the community to come up to bat after the game was over defeated the purpose of state laws that require community engagement early in the landfill approval process. We hope the administrative court will protect the public and invalidate this permit.”
The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people.
Non-profit and non-partisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 100 attorneys, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. southernenvironment.org
The mission of the Satilla Riverkeeper is to PROTECT, RESTORE, and EDUCATE about the ecological values and unique beauty of the Satilla River. We work to ensure excellent quality and quantity of water in the Satilla River for all uses. We are the eyes and ears of the watershed and estuary.
photo of the wetlands that the landfill will be built on, a pond that the landfill will be built on, and a map of what is around the landfill.
