Judge Upholds EPD Close Order Against Toccoa Biofuel Plant

By Charlie Bauder, WNEG Radio, Toccoa

An administrative law judge has upheld the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s administrative order revoking permits issued to controversial biofuel and rendering plant in Toccoa.

The ruling came last week against Wilbros LLC, which has been under EPD scrutiny for the past several years over noxious odors coming from the plant.

The EPD originally issued an administrative order last January calling on Wilbros to stop receiving waste and begin closure proceedings.

In the order, the EPD accused the Rose Lane facility of violating the state’s solid waste management and water quality acts and associated permits multiple times.

Wilbros, which has been at the center of complaints from the community, disputed the allegations and called the order to close unlawful.

In the ruling, Judge Ronit Walker said the EPD did prove that Wilbros had, in some instances, violated its solid waste handling permit and its discharge permit.

Judge Walker concluded that while the EPD has only proven a minority of the initial alleged violations against Wilbros, the nature of those violations proved significant.

Walker ruled Wilbros repeatedly, and without authorization, disregarded the mandates of both its design development permit and design and operational plan, both of which were tied to the permits issued by the EPD.

Stephens County attorney Brian Ranck calls the judge’s decision a major step forward in the process in getting rid of the odor problem.

Wilbros can appeal the judge’s decision in Superior Court, either in Fulton or Stephens counties.