Rep. Jeff Jones Responds to Efforts to Protect Georgia’s Water Resources from Coal Ash Storage

ATLANTA — State Representative Jeff Jones (R-Brunswick) today issued the following statement in response to the City of Brunswick City Commission’s effort to draft a resolution asking state lawmakers to create stricter regulations governing coal ash storage:

“I applaud the efforts of the City of Brunswick’s City Commission to call for state leaders to protect our state’s pristine water resources.  I, likewise, encourage the Glynn County Board of Commissioners to consider similar efforts, as well as all communities throughout the state of Georgia that are impacted by coal ash storage. It is my intention to introduce legislation this session that seeks to protect our valuable, finite water resources from the potential damaging effects of long-term coal ash storage and the closing of existing coal ash ponds.

“The municipal landfills that are intended to accept the coal ash must be able to guarantee that the liners and other storage methodology they propose to use must last for thousands of years. That’s a very long time, and I’m not convinced the dime-thick liner that is being proposed by Republic for the Broadhurst landfill in Wayne County will hold up over time.

“The water that is being drained off of existing wet-storage coal ash ponds as they are being closed or capped-in-place must at least be treated to the same degree of water quality as water from our wastewater treatment facilities before it is discharged into our streams, rivers, lakes and ocean. We don’t want to go from solving one problem to creating another!”

 

Representative Jeff Jones represents the citizens of District 167, which includes portions of Glynn, Long, and McIntosh counties. He was first elected into the House of Representatives in 2014, and currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the Motor Vehicles Committee. He also serves on the Insurance, Interstate Cooperation, and Science & Technology committees.

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