– Sept. 25, 2024 –
Good morning! We’re bursting today with explainers about the water use at the new Hyundai plant. We also have an update about the ongoing Sapelo referendum and a plea to provide better protection for a marsh-dwelling turtle. Finally, don’t turn your back on hurricane season yet; it’s knocking at the back door.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Hyundai’s thirst
Everything about Hyundai’s Metaplant in Bryan County seems supersized, including its thirst. The company says it needs 4 million gallons of water a day to produce EVs and their batteries. Bryan and Bulloch county officials tagged on another 2.6 million gallons daily for nearby developments, leading to a request for the 14th largest Floridan aquifer permit in Georgia. We got to wondering exactly how that water will be used and how Hyundai’s need compares to that of other local industries, including paper mills. The Current’s Mary Landers reports.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Sapelo hearing
In McIntosh County, a judge is weighing whether to cancel an ongoing referendum about zoning on Sapelo Island’s Hogg Hummock. Gullah Geechee residents and their supporters oppose the new zoning, fearing it will lead to gentrification that will tax them out of their ancestral home.
A hearing on Friday aired the arguments for and against the petition-driven referendum, as The Current’s Mary Landers reports.
Early voting on the issue continues in McIntosh County through Friday. The special election is Oct. 1.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Protection sought for terrapins
Diamondback terrapins are the only turtles that spend their lives in the brackish waters of the salt marsh along the East and Gulf coasts. The species survived a turtle soup craze that saw its numbers plummet in the early 1900s. This century they’re threatened by vanishing habitat, drowning in crab traps, and crushing encounters with cars and trucks on coastal causeways. Last week the Center for Biological Diversity and 20 partner organizations petitioned NOAA Fisheries to protect diamondback terrapins as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
“Tens of thousands of terrapins are drowning in crab traps each year. Without the lifeline of Endangered Species Act protection, they’ll sink into extinction,” said Will Harlan, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Just one thing
This week’s tip for personal environmental action comes from reader Bob Morgan. “We will always have plastic, so I don’t worry about the oil companies’ future. Yet, I try to limit using plastic, ” he wrote. “I use cloth bags for groceries. But I use plastic bags to pick up dog mess on walks. The plastic covers for magazines and bread loaf bags along with a used Ziplocs are good for that purpose. It’s amazing how much is still available without the plastic grocery bags.”
Send “just one thing” you do as part of your personal environmental action plan to mary.landers@thecurrentga.org. We’ll publish our favorites and credit the contributors. Thanks!
On our radar
Keep alert for warnings about Tropical Storm Helene. The Gulf storm is headed this way through the back door, with the worst of the impacts for Coastal Georgia arriving late Thursday into Friday. NOAA has updates every six hours here. Savannah-based Enki Research offers plain talk and frequent updates, too.
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Hyundai’s water use: What does it take to build an EV?
Hyundai has made clear how much water it needs, but not how it will use this public resource.
How Hyundai’s water demand stacks up
Hyundai plans to use 4 million gallons a day, but other industries use even more from the Floridan aquifer.
Judge hears arguments on validity of Sapelo referendum
As McIntosh votes on repealing the zoning on Hogg Hummock, a hearing considers if the referendum is valid.
Cats and dogs both like to play fetch − it’s rooted in their hunting instincts
Although their domestication histories and natural behaviors are very different, cats and dogs share many similarities. Both species are predators, live closely with humans and are capable of enjoying rich social experiences with us.
In the wake of Apalachee shooting, hundreds of students walk out of Herschel V. Jenkins High School
The Jenkins students observed four minutes of silence, one for each life lost. Organizers then spoke, with somber speeches punctuated by chanting by hundreds of protesters gathered on the football field in support of gun reform.
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