Altamaha Riverkeeper

09/17/2026

Plant Scherer is on the Ocmulgee River, in the Altamaha River watershed. Altamaha Riverkeeper Fletcher Sams said the decision is a greenlight for unchecked pollution.

"This rollback is going to allow Georgia Power to run these aging antique coal plants indefinitely," he said.

Plant Bowen’s units all came online in the 1970s. Plant Scherer’s went online in the '80s. The Trump administration is fighting to keep even older coal plants up and running.

Last year, the two Georgia plants produced about 22 million tons of carbon dioxide, putting them near the top for greenhouse gas pollution among over 1,000 U.S. power plants and accounting for just under half of the carbon emissions of Georgia Power’s entire generation fleet.

Sams points to other pollutants in coal plant emissions as things Georgians will still be living with once the looser carbon rules keep the coal plants online rather than replacing them with cleaner combined cycle natural gas turbines.

"It's hard to run a coal plant clean," he said. "You have the mercury emissions and heavy metal emissions coming out of the stack that wouldn't be coming out with the combined cycle turbines."

Sams says much of that pollution will still end up in the state’s streams and rivers. Other things, such as particulate emissions, will continue to contribute to ground-level ozone and health conditions that come with it, such as asthma.

A 2023 study by a host of universities which included Georgia Tech suggested those emissions contributed to 500,000 excess deaths over 20 years.

A rollback of Biden-era carbon rules by the EPA gives a new lease on life to Georgia Power's massive coal-fired power plants.

07/27/2026

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuOV4n_LufTQVkkGFWb1hD4xNYLMMHQMgyQgUs-gggYjsgkQ/viewform

07/08/2026

The so-called reciprocal internal combustion engines, or RICE, are typically relied on for back-up power in the event of a power outage, but at the Serverfarm data center in Newton County, the intent is to rely on generators which operate a lot like the gas engine of a car for all the electricity, all the time.

Now, eight of the planned 33 generators have been installed at the site despite the fact that Georgia EPD has yet to permit the construction.

That was pointed out to James Boylan, Chief of the Air Protection Branch of Georgia EPD, in a June 25 letter from the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Altamaha Riverkeeper and a local environmental group called Sustainable Newton. The SELC letter includes documentary photos of the eight gas engines.

A week later, the EPD sent its own letter.

Georgia Environmental Regulators say a company installing natural gas-based electrical generation for a Newton County data center has likely violated state air quality rules.

07/01/2026

In its letter, the SELC argued that, “By jumping the gun, VoltaGrid and Serverfarm are ignoring not only EPD’s legal requirements, but are wholly disregarding the public participation process and the concerns of those living downwind of the facility.”

EPD spokesperson Sara Lips said it was aware of the SELC’s claims and “will investigate the allegations.”

The SELC said it flagged the potential violations on behalf of itself and the nonprofits Sustainable Newton and the Altamaha Riverkeeper. The groups have asked EPD to order an immediate stop to prohibited construction activity and fine the companies for the alleged violations.

Nathan Ough, the president and CEO of VoltaGrid, did not respond directly to a question about the groups’ claims, but said his company “appreciates the opportunity to do business in Georgia” and “will continue to operate in compliance with applicable laws.”

Representatives for Serverfarm did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.

Environmental groups argue a data center in Covington and a 90-megawatt "off-grid" power plant under construction to serve it are violating state and federal pollution laws.

06/03/2026

“I’ve never seen conditions like this during the spring,” said Fletcher Sams, executive director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper, which monitors the Ocmulgee River and its tributaries across Middle Georgia. “The Ocmulgee and Oconee were improved with the rain, but we need more.”

The Ocmulgee River rebounded from historic lows, but farmers and water experts say the recovery remains fragile.

05/27/2026

🚨 PUBLIC MEETING 🚨 [please share]
Georgia Power is hosting a public meeting to discuss its plan to address arsenic in the groundwater at Plant McManus (located on Crispen Blvd). Use the shortened links within the infographic to find more information and to submit comments.
📣 Public Meeting: Thursday, May 28th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM (Brunswick)
💬 Public Comments will be accepted until 6 PM on May 29, 2026
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This site sits near neighborhoods, businesses, and is immediately adjacent to tidal waters within the Turtle River estuary—your voice matters. Learn more, show up, and speak out.

05/18/2026

In 2019, the EPA approved the state’s authority to oversee coal ash management. But in their first official act — a “bellwether” for future decisions — regulators at the state’s Environmental Protection Division approved a permit to leave coal ash partly submerged in groundwater at one of Georgia Power’s plants. Despite outcry from communities and a rebuke by the EPA, the agency continues to hold its regulatory authority and has approved another 20 permits for coal ash ponds at roughly a dozen coal plants across the state.

The Trump administration is now signaling it wants to transfer coal ash oversight to even more states and roll back federal protections. Five states currently have approved coal ash programs, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Oklahoma and Georgia were approved during Trump’s first term, Texas received approval during the Biden administration, and North Dakota and Wyoming were approved in the last year. The Trump administration is also in the process of approving Virginia for local coal ash permitting.

“The state agencies that have programs where they can issue permits, we’ve seen, unfortunately, that they’ve not been rigorous in enforcing standards,” said Nick Torrey, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We know that they are underfunded, underresourced. The utilities are often the most powerful entity in the state and call the shots.”

The move comes at a time when many state environmental budgets have been slashed.

03/11/2026

For now, Sams said, the only real check on data center development in the basin is local government. “The only thing that’s really standing in the way of these things being built and becoming operational is the city councils and the county commissions,” he said.

Read more at: https://www.macon.com/news/environment/article314935084.html =cpy

Many facilities have tapped into city water systems through municipal water permits, avoiding the industrial withdrawal review required for direct river users.

02/04/2026

Fletcher Sams, head of the Altamaha Riverkeeper organization, told city council members the financial windfall would come with environmental consequences, most stemming from Georgia Power’s coal-fired Plant Scherer, about 20 miles away from the data center site.

“You will continue to see fish consumption advisories for mercury in fish tissue for all surrounding water bodies, including Lake Juliette, Lake Tobesofkee, High Falls Lake and the Ocmulgee River,” Sams said, because of emissions from Plant Scherer.

An executive order by President Donald Trump recently exempted Plant Scherer and similar plants from a more stringent Biden-era mercury pollution rule. Georgia Power had been slated to close Plant Scherer before the data center boom. Now it and its sister facility, Plant Bowen in North Georgia, will continue to operate for the foreseeable future.

Sams also warned about new fine particulate pollution, the kind that makes old-fashioned smog — which, in turn, leads to respiratory illness — from the fleet of diesel-powered backup electrical generation currently proposed for the data center.

"Those generators are about the size of what y'all are sitting behind right there," Sams told the council, gesturing to their dais. "About an 18-wheeler size. A thousand of those."

Those generators would be run at least monthly just to ensure they would work should an emergency come.

Over the objections of many residents and the recommendation of its own planning and zoning board, city leaders in Forsyth approved a rezoning of a swath of timberland for a hyperscale data center.