Skip to main content
Georgia Public Broadcasting Logo
  • TV

    Featured Specials and Programs

    • All Creatures Great and Small
    • Miss Scarlet & The Duke
    • Antiques Roadshow
    • PBS Newshour
    • Finding Your Roots
    • The U.S. and the Holocaust
    All Programs

    GPB Originals

    • Georgia Outdoors
    • View Finders
    • A Fork in the Road
    • Peach Jam TV
    • Your Fantastic Mind
    • Football Fridays in Georgia
    GPB Originals

    Browse by Genre

    • Arts & Music
    • Culture
    • Drama
    • Food
    • History
    • News & Public Affairs
    • TV Schedule
    • GPB Programs
    • PBS Passport
    • TV Highlights this Week
    • PBS KIDS
    • Ways to Watch
    • Newsletters
    • Contact GPB
  • Radio

    Featured Programs

    • The Daily
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Serendipity
    • John Lemley's City Cafe
    • Georgia in Play
    • Fresh Air
    • Here and Now
    • Code Switch/Life Kit
    • Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
    All Programs

    Podcasts

    • GA Today
    • Salvation South
    • Battleground: Ballot Box
    • Football Fridays in Georgia
    • Narrative Edge
    • Peach Jam Podcast
    • A Fork in the Road
    • Radio Schedule
    • GPB Classical
    • Radio Programs
    • Podcasts
    • GPB News
    • Find Your Station
    • Ways to Listen
    • Contact GPB
    • Newsletters
  • News

    Featured Programs & Series

    • Lawmakers
    • Lawmakers: Beyond the Dome
    • 1A
    • Battleground: Ballot Box
    • GA Today Podcast
    • Storycorps
    • Narrative Edge
    • Georgia in Play

    More GPB News

    • Politics
    • Georgia News
    • Justice
    • Arts & Life
    • Health
    All GPB News
    • Radio Schedule
    • Radio Stations
    • GPB Apps
    • Podcasts
    • Contact GPB News
    • Follow Us on Apple News
    • Newsletters
  • Education

    Browse by Subject

    • CTAE
    • Computer Science
    • English Language Arts
    • Mathematics
    • Physical Health and Wellness
    • Professional Learning
    • STEAM
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • The Arts
    • World Languages

    Browse by Grade

    • Preschool-PreK
    • K-2
    • 3-5
    • 6-8
    • 9-12

    Featured

    • Classroom Conversations Podcast
    • Georgia Studies Collection
    • Econ Express
    • VR in the Classroom
    • Lights, Camera, Budget!
    • Georgia Home Classroom
    • Chemistry Matters
    • Physics in Motion
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • Writers Contest
    • PBS LearningMedia
    • PBS KIDS
  • Sports

    GHSA Sports

    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Cheerleading
    • On Demand
    • GPB Sports Blog
    All Sports

    High School Football

    • Scores & Schedule
    • On Demand
    • Teams
    • Rankings
    • Brackets
    • Buckle Up Georgia
    Football Home
    • GPB Sports App
    • GPB Sports Blog
    • GPB Sports OnDemand
  • Events

    Browse by Type

    • Community
    • Donor
    • Kids & Family
    • Screenings
    All Events

    Browse by Category

    • Education
    • News
    • Sports
    • Television

    Sign up to receive GPB Event announcements via Email.

    Sign up

    • on Twitter
    • on Facebook
    • on Instagram
  • Kids & Family

    For Kids

    • Video
    • Games

    For Parents & Caregivers

    • Kids & Family Blog
    • Kids & Family Events
    • GPB KIDS - Ways to Watch
  • Support Us

    Support GPB

    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Sustainers
    • GPB Passport
    • Leadership Giving
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donations
    • GPB Next
    • Matching Gifts
  • Search
GPB Passport icon GPB Passport icon Passport
GPB donate icon GPB donate icon Donate
Listen Live Listen Live Watch Live Watch Live
GPB News

GPB Newsletter CTA

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

News Topics

  • Georgia
  • National
  • Politics
  • Lawmakers
  • Battleground: Ballot Box

Don't Miss

Don't Miss:

  • Hurricane Idalia Aftermath
  • GPB HS Football Rankings
  • Georgia Indictments latest

News Articles: coal ash

The closed coal ash pond at Plant McDonough in Cobb County in September. The work was done before a final permit for coal ash pond closure was issued by Georgia EPD.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Georgia environmentalists ask for a stronger EPA hand in coal ash regulation

Georgia environmental advocates told the Environmental Protection Agency during a public hearing Wednesday their state’s coal ash management permitting program deserved the same scrutiny as that of neighboring Alabama. during a public hearing on the EPA’s proposed rejection of Alabama program. 

September 28, 2023
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship

Tagged as: 

  • News

Feds rejected Alabama’s toxic waste disposal plan. What that means for Georgia’s coal ash

Georgia Power’s plans for disposing of toxic industrial waste at a handful of coal plants across the state have been the subject of a yearslong controversy.

August 25, 2023
|
By:
  • Gautama Mehta
Jeff Cown, the incoming director of the state Environmental Protection Division, poses for photos Wednesday after being confirmed by the Board of Natural Resources during a special called meeting.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Georgia environmental agency names staffer to lead efforts to regulate coal ash, Okefenokee mining

The governor has tapped a longtime state regulator to lead Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division.

August 04, 2023
|
By:
  • Jill Nolin
Power Plant

Tagged as: 

  • News

Federal crackdown on coal ash waste in the works as Southern Co. resists tougher environmental regs

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are seeking public input on a proposal to close a regulatory loophole that conservationists claim utilities are exploiting to avoid cleaning up toxic coal ash from retired power plants.

 

June 20, 2023
|
By:
  • Stanley Dunlap

Tagged as: 

  • News

Years past deadline, Georgia will submit plan to close loophole in pollution regulations

Under pressure from the federal government, Georgia is rewriting a rule governing industrial air pollution limits to end a loophole that currently exposes communities near coal plants and other facilities to harmful pollutants.

May 03, 2023
|
By:
  • Gautama Mehta
Georgia Power's Plant Scherer with the coal ash pond where residuals from burning coal at the plant are stored. The pond goes to depths of 80 feet in some places and comes into contact with groundwater.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

A new coal ash bill would align Georgia with federal rules

A Georgia House bill would align state law with the current federal rule around the storage of the toxic material left over from burning coal to make electricity, also known as coal ash. 

March 01, 2023
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Georgia Power's Plant Scherer with the coal ash pond where residuals from burning coal at the plant are stored. The pond goes to depths of 80 feet in some places and comes into contact with groundwater.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Federal action on coal ash in Ohio has big implications in Georgia

A recent order by the EPA telling an Ohio power plant it could no longer dispose of toxic coal ash in an unlined pond, thereby polluting groundwater, could have important implications for four Georgia Power sites.

December 02, 2022
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
People protesting Georgia Power rate hike

Tagged as: 

  • Energy

Georgia Power’s new bid to pass coal ash tab to customers gets tailwind with court decisions

The state Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on Georgia Power’s 20-year plan for the company’s transition to cleaner forms of energy from its aging coal-fired power plants. 

July 19, 2022
|
By:
  • Stanley Dunlap
Plant Bowen

Tagged as: 

  • Energy

Georgia Power plans to finish shift from coal-fired plants by 2035

Georgia Power plans to power down the last of its coal-fired plants by 2035, when Plant Bowen in northwest Georgia is poised to close, according to long-term planning documents the company filed Monday.

February 01, 2022
|
By:
  • Jill Nolin
The coal ash pond, foreground, where waste from Georgia Power's coal fired Plant Scherer is stored. The EPA said it will not allow coal ash to be stored in contact with groundwater as it is now at Plant Scherer.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

New EPA action could mean big changes for Georgia coal ash storage

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is taking a stronger role in keeping coal ash, the toxic material left over from burning coal to make electricity, away from groundwater. 

January 12, 2022
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
From left, Monroe County Commissioner John Ambrose, Commission Chair Greg Tapley and Monroe County resident Charles Grizzard watch as a worker turns on the water service to Grizzard’s house Tuesday. Grizzard was the first resident to get city water in a project inspired by worries about coal ash at Georgia Power’s Plant Scherer.

Tagged as: 

  • News

Georgia Today: Is coal ash poisoning water In Juliette, Ga.? Residents say yes and they want answers

On this special episode of Georgia Today, we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes of 2021. This is the story of a grassroots fight in Middle Georgia for clean drinking water. GPB reporter Grant Blankenship and photojournalist Evey Wilson, an assistant professor at the Mercer University's Center for Collaborative Journalism, followed the effort for the recent documentary Saving Juliette.

December 31, 2021
|
By:
  • Steve Fennessy and
  • Jess Mador
Georgia Power's Plant Scherer, fronted by the pile of coal being prepped to burn to make electricity, in 2019.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Environmentalists' 2021 list of Georgia water problems features old and new issues

Georgia environmental advocates have released their annual list of water issues they say need to be addressed — their so-called Dirty Dozen. 

December 15, 2021
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Georgia Power's Plant Hammond in Rome an undated photo. Coal ash pond 3 is more than half of the property and only yards from the Coosa River.

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Public Comment Sought On Northwest Georgia Coal Ash Plan

Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division appears poised to approve a storage plan that would allow the toxic material left over from burning coal to generate electricity, so-called coal ash, to remain potentially in the path of an underground aquifer feeding the Coosa River in Northwest Georgia. 

August 06, 2021
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
Plant Scherer

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

Bill To Increase Monitoring Of Coal Ash Faces Uncertain Future

A Georgia Senate committee put off voting Wednesday on a bill to tighten monitoring requirements for ash generated by coal-burning power plants.

March 24, 2021
|
By:
  • Dave Williams
A Georgia Town Tackles Water, Coal Ash And Politics In 'Saving Juliette'

Tagged as: 

  • Environment

A Georgia Town Tackles Water, Coal Ash And Politics In 'Saving Juliette'

A Georgia Town Tackles Water, Coal Ash And Politics In 'Saving Juliette'

March 18, 2021
|
By:
  • Grant Blankenship
  • Load More

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

Connect with GPB

  • Connect with GPB on Facebook
  • Connect with GPB on Instagram
  • Connect with GPB on Twitter
  • Connect with GPB on YouTube
  • Connect with GPB on Apple News

Footer

Footer First Nav (Main Menu)

  • TV
  • Radio
  • News
  • Education
  • Sports
  • Events
  • Kids & Family
  • Support Us
  • Search

Footer Second Nav Menu

  • Help Center
  • About GPB
  • Contact Us
  • Closed Captioning
  • Directions
  • Studio Production
  • Program Submissions

Footer Third Nav Menu

  • Support Us
  • Careers
  • Accessibility
  • FCC Public Files
  • Drawing Rules
  • News Media Request
  • Open Records Policy
  • Privacy Policy

Georgia Public Broadcasting

260 14th St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
United States

(404) 685-2400 In Atlanta
(800) 222-4788 Outside Atlanta
ask@gpb.org

Newsletter Signup

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

Connect with GPB

  • Connect with GPB on Facebook
  • Connect with GPB on Instagram
  • Connect with GPB on Twitter
  • Connect with GPB on YouTube
  • Connect with GPB on Apple News
© Copyright 2023, Georgia Public Broadcasting. All Rights Reserved. Georgia Public Radio® GPTV®