ATLANTA — The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, threatened to file a lawsuit against the City of Atlanta on Monday if clean water concerns aren't resolved within 60 days.
"The Riverkeeper and its members are concerned about the violations at the (City of Atlanta's RM Clayton, Utoy Creek and South River Water Reclamation Centers) that have caused and continue to cause high concentrations of E. coli and other pollutants to be discharged into the Chattahoochee river," according to the Southern Environmental Law Center's notice of intent to file the lawsuit.
It alleges the city is violating its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and state and federal laws.
"We've seen periodic spikes of E. coli, which can physically make people sick by coming in contact with the river," Chattahoochee Riverkeeper CEO Jason Ulseth said. "We're seeing devastating wildlife impacts on the Chattahoochee River in terms of dissolved oxygen."
In March, data from the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) showed E. coli levels were about 340 times the federal Environmental Protection Agency's standards for water recreation.
The levels of E. coli have dropped drastically since; but Ulseth said that isn't the only benchmark they consider.
"It's about a 60-mile stretch of river that we are closely monitoring for dissolved oxygen levels," Ulseth said. "With this litigation, we're hoping to get this plant in better shape as quickly as possible so that we don't have a devastating fish kill out here later this summer."
He said the problems started at the RM Clayton Facility in Atlanta and extended about 60 miles south down the river.
Al Wiggins Jr., the Department of Watershed Commissioner, responded to those concerns on Tuesday.
"Both the City of Atlanta and CRK are aligned and share the same goal of protecting the water quality of the Chattahoochee River," Wiggins wrote. "Thus, we believe our collective time and efforts are best spent working towards that goal, not pursuing expensive and protracted litigation."
Wiggins said the city has worked on multiple improvements since it introduced a plan on April 19.
"These improvements include, among other things, restoration of biological processes, repairs to seven of the ten secondary clarifiers, the addition of eight mobile high-rate clarifiers to remain onsite until all permanent secondary clarifiers have been placed in a full operational mode, deep cleaning of all the primary clarifiers, and augmentation of the disinfection process with the dosing of chlorine prior to the UV disinfection stage," Wiggins said. "Indeed, improvement in the effluent quality is already notable."
To read the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper's full press release, click here.