ROSWELL, Ga. — A recent sewage spill that has closed at least 15 miles of the Chattahoochee River is coming out of the Big Creek Wastewater Treatment plant in Fulton County, a riverkeeper told 11Alive Sunday.
A malfunction at the treatment plant located at 1030 Marietta Highway in Roswell allowed untreated sewage to navigate into the river, raising E. coli levels in the Chattahoochee and making the water both unsafe and unhealthy, riverkeeper Jason Ulseth said.
When the plant is functioning properly, the sewage that comes from homes and businesses in the area passes through the treatment facility where it gets treated to a safe level and then pumped into the river in a "very safe" way, according to Ulseth.
"There is a malfunction at the treatment plant," Ulseth said. "So, the sewage that's coming through the process and negative into the river has not received its full treatment and therefore has some high levels of E. coli, which is causing this mess."
Ulseth did say the situation is looking better, however.
"The latest update is there is some good news though. So, while the county has not been able to get the entire plant back in operation, they have been able to set up a disinfection system," Ulseth explained. "So, at this point, hopefully anything that's going through the plant that's going into the river is now disinfected."
Ulseth said that testing is an issue because of timing. The bacteria has to be collected, grown, incubated, and then encountered before being able to get results back. The turnaround for testing time is 18 hours, Ulseth said.
Eleven miles of the river had previously been closed Saturday from Johnson Ferry to the East Palisades-Whitewater Creek area. On Sunday, the closure was extended from the Chattahoochee Nature Center to all downstream sections.
Ulseth says the environmental effects are minimal, but there is a threat of a fish kill.
"We have seen depleted oxygen levels going downstream of the spill, but we have not documented, to this time, anything that's dangerous," Ulseth said.
The shutdown of part of the river stems from a sewage spill at Willeo Creek Park in Roswell. The move was previously described by river officials as precautionary and at the recommendation of health officials to assess the contamination. It is completely off-limits for people to use.
Ulseth said riverkeepers will go back to collect another sample of the river bacteria tomorrow to undergo further testing, but results won't come through until another 18 hours later.
Elevated levels of E. coli levels can lead to health concerns with common symptoms manifesting as diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, and fever. Children, the elderly, or people with a weak immune system could see more severe symptoms.
At this time, the affected portion of the river appears to be closed for the entire Fourth of July weekend and into the July 4 holiday itself on Tuesday.
That didn't stop Josh Smith for coming out for some fun.
"There's a lot of stuff coming at me," Ulseth said. "I feel like E. coli is not going to be the thing that gets me."
People can check the closure status here.