Hyundai Motor Group’s Georgia electric vehicle plant, the Metaplant (HMGMA), currently in its final construction phase and aiming for an October operational start, is embroiled in controversy over alleged irregularities in its establishment permit process.
Environmental group Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK) recently claimed that the Metaplant’s permit process was rushed without proper environmental impact assessments, particularly concerning water usage.
In response, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a statement defending the process, which has led to suspicions that the Georgia state government and the city of Savannah prioritized investment attraction over thorough examination.
“Information regarding water supply impacts is most helpful during the permit review process,” Cheri Pritchard, spokeswoman for the USACE Savannah District, told Savannah Morning News. “This information was not previously provided to us during that process.”
Trip Tollison, Savannah Economic Development Authority President and CEO, also stated, “The Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority has been working with local governments and the state on how to best serve the site with water since the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is responsible for drinking water and water usage, not the USACE,”
In 2022, USACE repeated its assertion that the Hyundai plant will have a “negligible effect” on nearby “municipal and private water supplies.”
However, earlier this year, Metaplant’s announcement of a large-scale groundwater extraction plan raised concerns within the local community about potential drinking water contamination and ground subsidence in the Savannah area. ORK accused the USACE of intentionally concealing this information and hinted at possible administrative litigation, which the USACE denied, citing a lack of relevant information.
Hyundai plans to extract up to 6.65 million gallons of groundwater daily from four water supply stations in nearby Bulloch County to supply the 2,500-acre plant.
Hyundai aims to begin operations at the Metaplant in Bryan County, Georgia, ahead of schedule this October, initially producing Ioniq 5 vehicles. The company intends to establish the Metaplant as a central hub for EV production in North America and accelerate the development of an electrification value chain, including vehicle components and batteries.
The core issue of this controversy is compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. Enacted in 1972, this law assigns water resource management responsibilities to state governments.
However, during the plant’s permit process, the task of assessing the impact on water supply and quality through environmental evaluations lies with the USACE. The Savannah Morning News pointed out that the USACE knew about the need to develop four additional water supply stations five months before the final plant permit but did not include this issue in their report.
The state EPD has estimated that the four planned wells, if pulling a maximum 6.6 million gallons per day, would lead to a drawdown of as much as 19 feet in the Floridan Aquifer, 12 feet for private wells serving nearby farms and 15 feet for residential wells. Georgia’s Savannah and Brunswick coastal areas is supplied from the Floridan Aquifer.
Additionally, the Clean Water Act stipulates the designation and management of protected areas to safeguard rivers and surrounding wetlands. More than 300 acres of the Metaplant site fall within wetland areas.
“A lot of (natural) springs in that area have dried up over the past many decades,” said Ben Kirsch, ORK’s legal director. “It would be within the realm of possibility that other springs, other smaller streams and other tributaries, wetlands, could be impacted by this amount of withdrawal.”
BY CHAEWON JANG, YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
