Months after the city of Atlanta was cited for releasing poorly treated wastewater into the Chattahoochee River, a recent inspection found the embattled facility at the heart of its pollution problems still faces a bevy of issues, from broken filtration screens to tanks clogged with algae and floating debris.
The inspection of the R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center was conducted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division staff on Aug. 8, according to a report chronicling the visit that was shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Situated on the Chattahoochee River in northwest Atlanta, R.M. Clayton is Atlanta’s biggest sewage treatment plant and one of the largest in the Southeast. The facility is permitted to release as much as 100 million gallons of wastewater each day into the river, but it has been at the center of the city’s most recent sewage treatment problems, which burst into public view earlier this year.
Atlanta, however, has a long history of challenges with water and sewage infrastructure.
As recently as the late 20th century, Atlanta’s overmatched wastewater system would regularly send raw sewage straight into the Chattahoochee, before lawsuits and federal consent decrees forced the city to address the pollution. Up until the breakdowns at R.M. Clayton, advocates said those legal guardrails had dramatically improved water quality.
At the same time the city grapples with sewage treatment issues, the drinking water side of the house is also facing headwinds.
In late May and early June, a series of water main breaks left large portions of the city without drinking water for days, costing businesses and residents millions of dollars. Dickens has said the city will lean on the federal government to replace its aging pipes, but the fixes could still cost billions.
In early March, after staff from the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper notified EPD about dangerous levels of bacteria in effluent coming out of the plant, EPD inspectors paid a visit to R.M. Clayton. What they found was a facility in disrepair: six of its eight “clarifiers” — settling tanks used to remove solids — were out of order and many wastewater channels were caked in solids.
In the wake of the report, EPD also slapped the city with dozens of violations for breaching permitted limits for E. coli, fecal coliform, ammonia, phosphorus and more in its discharges into the river from July 2023 to February. An EPD spokeswoman said on Aug. 30, the agency sent the city a proposed a consent order covering those violations and others in recent months, but did not share information on potential fines, citing the ongoing negotiations.
Earlier this month, however, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the city seeking to compel the Department of Watershed Management to clean up its act.
Asked for comments on the latest inspection findings, a spokesman for Mayor Andre Dickens pointed to a news release from earlier this month when the lawsuit was filed, in which the city said it had made strides to improve conditions at R.M. Clayton and would continue repairs as outlined in a correction action plan submitted to Georgia EPD.
“These improvements exemplify the city’s commitment to making Atlanta a City Built for the Future and One Safe City,” the statement reads, a reference to Mayor Dickens’ stated infrastructure and public safety goals.
The city blamed the problems on “illicit” discharges of an “odorless, colorless high ammonia nitrogen substance” from industrial facilities last year. The city did not disclose the exact source of the substance, but said it disrupted bacteria the plant uses to treat sewage, before heavy rainstorms overwhelmed the facility.
When inspectors returned a few weeks ago in early August, they noted conditions inside the plant had improved since their last visit, though they found a host of issues remained.
R.M. Clayton’s three rotating drum screens to sift out solids before later stages of wastewater treatment were operational, but inspectors noted rusting on one and a 1- to 1.5-foot hole in another. The report says facility staff told inspectors repairs were planned to fix the equipment.
All eight of the plant’s primary clarifiers were operational, compared to just two back in March. But both EPA and EPD staff observed floating solids and algae buildup on the tanks. Many of the facility’s secondary clarifiers used to separate microbes and germs from the wastewater, meanwhile, were still compromised.
EPA inspectors also found all 10 of the secondary clarifiers showed “evidence of a lengthy operational problem” and three were completely out of service. The documented issues ranged from broken skimming arms to thick blankets of sludge built up in the units.
In one clarifier, inspectors noted plants were growing directly on top of the layer of sludge, indicating “time passage since the floating solids accumulation.” Eight mobile clarifiers brought in to help earlier this year were still on site and some were in operation.
In a meeting at the end of the visit, the report says EPA inspectors asked staff what caused the equipment failures and facility managers offered a new explanation, blaming a period of cold weather they said burst pipes and led to cascading problems. It was not clear which cold snap R.M. Clayton’s leadership was referring to.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The Georgia EPD portion of the report concludes by noting overall improvement since their staff’s March visit, but adds it is “imperative” repairs are completed and that staff are properly trained “not only to return the facility back to proper operations, but to maintain compliance in the future.”
The report was sent to Watershed Management Commissioner Al Wiggins on Aug. 30. About a week later, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper filed its federal lawsuit against the city, claiming R.M Clayton exceeded its allowed pollution limits at least 79 times from July 2023 to July this year, violating the federal Clean Water Act and its state permit.
The city’s previous statement also notes R.M. Clayton has not exceeded its permitted E. coli limits since late March and has stayed within the bounds on other metrics, such as ammonia, phosphorus and dissolved oxygen, since mid-August.
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