Georgia Power says tests show there aren’t unsafe levels of uranium in the water near Plant Scherer.

The utility said samples from four wells near the Juliette plant indicated undetectable levels of uranium. The University of Georgia and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division performed the sample analysis.

“Our first priority will always be to protect public health while producing clean, safe, reliable electricity for our customers,” said Plant Manager Danny Morton in a news release. “We live here, too.”

The tests took place after the state Department of Public Health said this month it will examine environmental data about the coal plant’s emissions and its nearby coal ash pond, which stores coal waste.

Health department officials said residents’ complaints of gastro-intestinal diseases and other ailments prompted the study.

In some cases, uranium occurs naturally in granite aquifers. But environmentalists with the Sierra Club say they’re concerned about the plant’s unlined coal ash pond, which they say doesn’t have a leeching cachement system.

Tags: Georgia Power, uranium, Plant Scherer, coal ash, state Department of Health