The Hyundai EV plant in Georgia will siphon 6.6 million gallons of water away from the drinking water supply.

A federal agency plans to reexamine its environmental permit for Hyundai’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia after a conservation group complained that regulators failed to properly assess the sprawling factory’s potential impact on the area’s water supply.

The Army Corps of Engineers said in a letter Friday that state and local economic development agencies that applied for the project’s 2022 permit never stated that Hyundai wants to release up to 6.6 million gallons (25 million gallons) a day from the region’s vast groundwater. source of drinking water.

Details of the facility’s needs came out earlier this year as the Georgia Environmental Protection Division considered a proposal for four new wells to supply water to the automotive industry. As a result, the Army Corps said it would re-evaluate its finding that the project would have “adverse impacts.”

The Army sent a similar letter to the conservation group Ogeechee Riverkeeper, which gave notice in June that it planned to sue if the agency refused to revisit the permit issued for the Hyundai project in October 2022.

“The concentration of that pumping in one area will have some effect on the area, such as on domestic and agricultural sources,” said Ben Kirsch, legal director of the river conservation group. “The big question we’ve had in all of this is what impact it will have on other resources – natural springs in the area, wetlands, rivers and streams.”

The Army Corps’ decision comes as Hyundai aims to start production before the end of the year at its 2,900-acre (1,170-hectare) plant in Bryan County west of Savannah. The site will produce EVs and the batteries that power them. The South Korean automaker plans to hire 8,000 workers at the plant, making it the largest economic development project Georgia has ever undertaken.

The Army Corps of Engineers does not mandate any delay or disruption in the construction of the plant site due to the re-examination of its permit. A spokeswoman said the agency was working to respond to questions from The Associated Press on Monday.

Additional federal government scrutiny is “unlikely to affect or delay” Georgia regulators’ final decision on whether to approve the Hyundai project’s wells, said Sara Lips, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Division.

An Army Corps permit obtained by state and local economic developers authorized the filling or mining of 221 hectares (89 acres) of wetlands on the plant’s property just months after Hyundai announced plans to build its EV factory in May 2022.

The Army Corps concluded that the project would have “negative impacts on municipal and private water sources.” In its Friday letter, it said the agency relies on information provided by economic developers.

“We’ve never intentionally held anything back,” said Trip Tollison, president and CEO of the Savannah Area Economic Development Authority, one of the local agencies that worked with state officials to bring Hyundai to Georgia.

Tollison said he expects the revised information requested by the Army Corps to be submitted within 10 days. The federal agency will complete its review within a month, he said, adding that he hoped the reevaluation would not hold up work.

“There’s enough water for everyone,” Tollison said. “We feel very happy where we are.”

A spokesman for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, which is the automaker’s name for its Georgia facility, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Agency issued draft permits in July for the four wells to supply Hyundai. It is now evaluating public comments before reaching a final decision. The wells will be drilled in neighboring Bulloch County, where some farmers and rural residents say they are worried the auto industry will siphon water from their crops and homes.

State regulators concluded that the withdrawal of water by the Hyundai plant would lower groundwater levels up to 19 feet (5.8 meters) in private wells within 5 miles (8 kilometers). They said that many wells will not see the impact because they reach deep into the earth.

The government agency also said that nearby rivers and streams will not be affected because dense layers of rocks block the water table.

Kirsch and the Ogeechee Riverkeeper said he hopes a second look by the Army Corps will provide more insight into how state regulators reached those conclusions.

“We really want to see the Corps investigate this independently,” Kirsch said. “This should all be looked at before the wetlands are filled and buildings go up.”

– Russ Bynum, Associated Press