Marks has repeatedly called for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to deny the company’s mining permit. In February, the agency released draft permits for the proposal. Opponents of the mine fear full approval may come this year.
“TPM’s tax delinquency shows that the company can’t pay its bills,” said Marks, who called the company’s sales pitch to the local community a mirage.
In an email, Charlton County Commissioner Drew Jones declined to comment on Twin Pines’ finances while reaffirming the need for economic development in the county, adding the environmentalists “contribute little to nothing” to his community.
“We have no hospital in our County, we have broken roads and sidewalks, every child in our school system gets free lunch. We are in desperate need of a catalyst to increase the quality of lives of our citizens,” Jones said.
When reached by phone, Charlton Commissioner James Everett told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was unaware Twin Pines has an outstanding property tax bill and said he would “look into it.”
This is not the first time a company affiliated with Twin Pines or Ingle has been behind on property taxes.
Twin Pines is a subsidiary of Greenfuels Energy LLC. Another Greenfuels subsidiary, North Carolina Renewable Power, was late multiple times on the property taxes it owed on a biomass energy plant in North Carolina, county tax records show.
The company, where Ingle served as vice president of engineering for several years, also faced persistent operational problems.
Equipment malfunctions meant the plant struggled to stay under its emissions limits for several pollutants, including carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. North Carolina Renewable Power garnered 64 environmental violations for a total of $174,000 in fines over the course of its operation, state environmental records show.
Ultimately, the plant proved insolvent and shut down permanently in 2023. In a previous statement, Ingle acknowledged the plant “encountered problems” and told the AJC that he left North Carolina Renewable Power in August 2018.
North Carolina environmental inspectors who passed by the facility shortly after its closure last year noticed new signs on the plant posted by the local sheriff.
“Upon arrival, I noted several county sheriff placards on the facility’s sign noting the facility had been closed for not paying county taxes. I saw similar placards on the facility’s gates which were padlocked by Robeson County Officials,” the inspector wrote.
“There were no vehicles or personnel onsite and the site appeared abandoned.”
