Jennette Gayer
State Director, Environment Georgia
Statement: Time for Georgia’s power plants to clean up their act
Media Contacts
New EPA rules will slash toxic pollution, improve health
WASHINGTON– The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday finalized new rules to reduce air, water and climate pollution from coal and new gas plants. The new standards will:
- Reduce mercury pollution from certain coal plants by about 70 percent. Mercury is so toxic that just fractions of an ounce can contaminate waterways and make fish unsafe to eat.
- Slash the quantity of heavy metals and other pollutants dumped by power plants into the nation’s waterways and require legacy coal ash ponds to reduce their risk of spills. Coal ash is a waste product from coal-fired power plants that can smother landscapes and contaminate waterways with toxic chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and selenium, and many legacy ponds are accidents waiting to happen.
- Cut climate-warming pollution from existing coal and new gas plants. Forty-five of the fifty biggest climate polluters in the United States are power plants that burn coal and/or gas, including some plants in Georgia.
In response to the EPA’s announcement, Jennette Gayer, director of Environment Georgia Research & Policy Center released the following statement:
“For too long Georgians have suffered from the unhealthy air and toxic water delivered by Georgia’s aging fleet of coal and gas plants. In 2024 we know there is a better way to make energy. These rules are tools that will help Georgians breathe cleaner air, reduce climate warming pollution, and get coal ash cleaned up so it won’tt threaten our waterways for decades to come. We applaud President Biden and the EPA for finalizing these rules and working to build a cleaner future for the next generation of Georgians.”