ATLANTA — Environmental activists want to reactivate a pollution monitoring device shut down near the site of a controversial public safety training center project.
The public safety training center site is close to Intrenchment Creek – a waterway that has had pollution issues for years and activists say, even more now.
To monitor pollution, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) installed a monitoring device alongside Intrenchment Creek at Constitution Road years before the nearby property became embroiled in the controversy over the site protesters call "Cop City."
Shortly after protests erupted at the site earlier this year, the USGS stopped collecting pollution data, citing “escalating safety concerns from ongoing protests in the Intrenchment Creek area.”
In January, protester Manuel Esteban Paez Teran died in what state troopers described as an exchange of gunfire. Medical examiners found more than 50 gunshot wounds on Paez Teran's body.
The pollution monitoring went by the wayside.
"So for months and months, that type of data that we’ve had for years has not been available. So the goal now is to get that testing for water quality back as soon as possible," DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry said.
Terry opposes the project. He said the U.S. government needs to reactivate the monitor, now overgrown with weeds alongside Intrenchment Creek – not only to gauge pollution but also to document the amount of construction silt that is draining into the stream.
However, a USGS spokesman said, “The safety and well-being of USGS employees is always our first priority.”
Terry thinks police, who were abundant when we drove by at midday Tuesday, could easily protect those employees.
"In my assessment, there are police on every corner, in that entire area. It’s one of the most secure locations in metro Atlanta," Terry said.
The USGS said its goal is to restart the monitoring program – but not until it can be sure its employees will be safe doing so.