CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Two people are threatening to sue a Georgia school district for $2 million over a primary school being built right next to their land. It's allegedly causing harm to their rivers and streams -- the environment of an endangered fish.
Donovan Shook said he's proud of his home in Cartersville.
"God let me have it, you know, to keep up and protect," he said.
Shook bought the land from his next-door neighbor Jack House, who was born on the property in 1935.
"When I celebrate a birthday, I can go walk a few yards and be where I was born," House said.
Now, they're living to protect that land.
"I think if I had one word to describe them, it would be 'bully,'" House added.
Construction on the new Cartersville Primary School started in January, and the men said they immediately started seeing damage to the creeks and streams on their land.
"It's just a heartbreaker because you put your time and your energy and effort into keeping your place going, and you're proud of it. And to not get anyone who seems to care, that's the problem," House said.
They said when the city and the school refused to clean it up, they threatened to file a nearly $2 million lawsuit against them.
"We can't get anywhere and it's just ridiculous," Shook said.
After their attorney sent a letter to the city and the school, the district superintendent said they did clean it up.
They hired a contracting company to clean the rivers and the streams. The clean-up was even supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, Shook and House said their properties are still a mess.
"You can see how brown this is and all - see all this - that shouldn't be there," Shook said as he pointed to the river soil.
It's what you can't see that’s motivating the men to sue.
"They're real skittish, you'll see some right here. You see them," he said.
It's all to protect a 2-inch fish. Not just any fish, but an endangered species.
"There was darters in here, but they died out bc they didn't have no way to get no food," Shook said.
The Cherokee Darter is federally protected as an endangered species, and Shook and House allege the runoff is killing the fish.
"When you can't protect it and you can't protect it because someone else is messing it up, it's not fair, it's not fair at all," he said.
The Mayor of Cartersville said the city does not comment on pending litigation.