Information
Learn more about the Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park and how it will benefit Brantley County. We are committed to keeping the public informed of our progress and new developments. Please visit this page for new information as it becomes available.
General Fact Sheet (downloadable PDF)
Technology Fact Sheet (downloadable PDF)
Timeline (downloadable PDF)
EPD public participation guidelines
EPD site suitability letter (downloadable PDF)
Letter to the Community (downloadable PDF)
Letter to the Community (2) (downloadable PDF)
Coastal Terrace Fact Sheet
BRANTLEY COUNTY PROJECT WILL MEET CRITICAL WASTE DISPOSAL NEEDS
For the last eight years, an industrial park that would feature a solid waste handling and disposal facility has been planned for eastern Brantley County in order to meet the county’s needs for cost-efficient waste disposal and new jobs. Brantley County invited an investors group (which later became Brantley County Development Partners or “BCDP”) to purchase a specific property for the construction of a landfill and industrial park. The county’s lack of a modern, permitted landfill has significantly driven up its waste handling and disposal costs. The planned facility, Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park (“Coastal Terrace”), to be built on industrial land, would also handle the Georgia coastal region’s storm debris in the event of a disaster. Plans for the 2389-acre property purchased by BCDP at the urging of Brantley County include a waste-to-energy facility and other green energy operations that would attract new employers to the area.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) issued a permit for the construction and operation of the solid waste facility in 2022.
Safe location, environmentally sound operation
The site conforms to federal and state site suitability criteria for the safe operation of a solid waste handling and disposal facility. This will be reflected by the design and operating plan required for the permit.
The landfill will accept municipal solid waste including storm debris.
“Today’s landfills are more than places for families to send their waste,” said Steve Harbin, Harbin Engineering, whose firm is designing Coastal Terrace. “Today’s landfills help counties in meeting their sustainability goals by converting waste to energy whenever possible, without having to landfill as much. They also generate substantial revenues that help counties pay for services they provide to citizens, such as public health.”
Facility will be an essential repository for storm debris
Disposal of storm debris is an important element of emergency planning. Failure to provide a waste facility eligible to take storm debris could cost the state of Georgia millions of dollars in federal grants. Equally alarming is the prospect of contaminated debris accumulating in residential areas following the next serious storm, and its potential to cause significant public health issues.
To avoid this scenario, the federally mandated disaster relief and recovery plan must ensure that an adequate disposal facility will serve the region. The Coastal Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) determined that a regulated landfill designated to accommodate disaster debris should be built in the region. Eastern Brantley County was identified as a suitable location due to its accessibility, topography, elevation and its proximity to areas impacted by coastal flooding. The proposed site is located outside of the Category 5 hurricane storm surge area. An important advantage is the site’s location on the east side of the Satilla River, outside the federal surge zone, creating easy and safe access if there is a major flood.
More Than Just a Landfill:
COASTAL TERRACE WILL CONVERT SUITABLE WASTE TO ENERGY
The latest technologies and process know-how will enable the proposed Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park to recycle a significant portion of the household solid waste it receives from households in Brantley County, where appropriate. Once it is up and running, Coastal Terrace will be a beneficial revenue-generating facility for the county in several ways: not only will the landfill reduce the cost of shipping household waste out of the county, but it will also generate fees for the county coffers while serving as an example of how our everyday waste can be recycled into energy products.
The Brantley County Development Partners (BCDP) selected the proposed Coastal Terrace
Green Energy Park site, at the urging of Brantley County, for its location and geology. The property’s elevation and distance from the Satilla River make it an optimal location for a waste facility within an industrial park. In addition to its safe location, the site is close to major transportation corridors, both interstate and rail, and close to the Jacksonville airport as well as to blending and liquid natural gas (LNG) operations.
Since 2014, shortly after BCDP purchased the property to develop a landfill and industrial park for the county, the publicly discussed plan for the site has always been multi-faceted. Future operations will include the proposed solid waste handling facility as well as a fuel repository, operating alongside a technology park that will utilize thermal conversion to recycle a large portion of the materials in the landfill. During the past six years, BCDP has invested substantial time and money in research and development, third-party testing, lab analysis and due diligence—all for the purpose of designing a modern landfill with the capacity to recycle a large percentage of its municipal solid waste (MSW) stream.
Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park will embrace the best of modern technologies, with planned operations such as:
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Material recovery facility (MRF)
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Refuse derived fuel (RDF) processing facility
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Emissions-compliant thermochemical process capable of converting MSW, mixed recyclables, construction and demolition (C&D) debris, inert debris and high-caloric post-industrial waste streams into synthetic gas and/or advanced materials.
A state-of-the-art disposal area, designed and operated according to Subtitle D regulations (federal law that mandates lined and protected landfills), will be used for disaster relief and traditional disposal. The landfill will be constructed above-ground, with adequate separation from the water table, as required by federal and state law. The general design of the landfill will be similar to many disposal facilities in coastal regions. As required by Subtitle D design and operating criteria, the entire footprint will be protected by an impermeable high-density polyethylene (HDPE) liner, and the entire site will be assessed and monitored regularly by licensed professionals.
How thermochemical processing works
Materials with little-to-no British thermal unit (BTU) value, such as municipal sludge(s), coal combustion residuals (CCR) and fly (coal) ash will not be used in the process and will not be accepted at the facility. The processing will be done indoors and will meet all Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) air quality standards.
Thermochemical processes have been in use commercially for more than 100 years. New breakthroughs in technology have been applied to upgrade the proven process so that it can handle different feedstock (materials that will be used in the processing) such as refuse derived fuel (RDF). Thermochemical processes are generally emissions-free; they bake (not burn) a feedstock for a certain period of time, at a certain temperature, in an oxygen-starved environment. This way, no incinerators are needed. Those mass-burn facilities are an inefficient way to produce heat and power; they are not permitted in Georgia.
If you ever use the self-cleaning function of your oven, then you have operated a thermochemical reactor. The cleaning cycle of a conventional oven locks the oven door to keep oxygen out, heats the contents of the oven so it’s hot enough to bake food mess into carbon. The result is a clean oven. The same principle, on a commercial scale, produces heat, syngas and carbon, all of which have value in other manufacturing processes.
WHAT IS A SUITABLE FEEDSTOCK?
Any material low in moisture and high in energy content is a prime candidate for thermal conversion. Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park could take and recycle: mixed recyclables; scrap tires; plastic films, carpet, vehicle upholstery, rubber/vinyl; automotive shredder residue (ASR); MSW; C&D debris; asphalt shingles; and debris that doesn’t decompose. Materials high in moisture content, such as municipal and industrial sludge(s) have no value in a thermochemical process, nor do CCR and fly ash.
What is “syngas”?
Coastal Terrace expects to produce some form of syngas as an end product of thermochemical conversion. Syngas is a chemical component comprised primarily of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2). This valuable product is used world-wide in multiple processes such as making wax, gasoline, fuel cells and fertilizer. Petrochemical companies along the Gulf Coast are among major producers of syngas that is distributed to customers around the country. Recent advancements in technologies and processes have unlocked the potential for other companies such as Coastal Terrace to produce smaller quantities of syngas on a commercial scale and at specific grades, to meet local customers’ needs and demands. Thanks to these technology breakthroughs, Georgia customers can more efficiently buy syngas made in Georgia from solid waste produced right here. Approximately 100 Georgians will be trained in new skills and hired to work at Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park. Brantley County will earn fees and tax revenues from the facility at the same time it reduces the cost of waste disposal and the amount of fossil fuel burned to haul its waste outside the county.
Examples of Syngas Processes and End Products:
Why do we need this facility in Brantley County?
Coastal Terrace Green Energy Park was planned and developed to utilize non-hazardous solid waste streams for a higher and better use. It will bring tax revenues, fees and jobs to Brantley County. It’s a way to get value out of trash, to make it a renewable resource, instead of burying it all in a landfill. The facility will bring jobs and it will be protective of the environment. The entire project would have very limited impact on any jurisdictional wetlands.
BCDP has already invested time and money on research and development. These efforts will now benefit Brantley County. (Downloadable PDF)