State seeks to fine Atlanta nearly $300,000 over alleged wastewater violations

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comment from the city.

The proposed enforcement order, issued Feb. 3 by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, is the latest salvo in a yearslong struggle between environmentalists, the city, the state and federal regulators over Atlanta’s water pollution issues.

Many of those issues center on the RM Clayton plant located in northwest Atlanta, which is permitted to discharge as much as 100 million gallons of treated wastewater every day into the river.

According to the proposed order, the plant suffered from numerous equipment and operational failures, resulting in dozens of major spills into the Chattahoochee of improperly treated water. It says the city’s “failure to properly operate and maintain” the facility violates its permit and clean water rules.

Subsequent inspections found that some remediation has taken place, the proposed order says. If implemented as written, the city would pay a fine of $290,817 and would be required to follow a plan to correct the issues and file regular progress reports.

Atlanta City Council must vote on the matter before the city can agree to the order and pay the fine.

Schereé C. Rawles of the city’s Department of Watershed Management said in an email that the matter is slated to come before the council Monday. She said the department has established a comprehensive long-term plan to enhance the infrastructure for drinking water and wastewater treatment.

Part of this effort includes a partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess the city’s 2,790-mile water distribution system, she added. Last month, Georgia’s two U.S. senators announced $9.8 million in federal funds over the next three years for the corps to upgrade the levee protecting the RM Clayton facility.

The status of such projects remains in doubt as the Trump administration seeks to freeze federal funding across a huge swath of government. Rawles said she was not aware of any federal funding received that is impacted.

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that helped bring the alleged violations to light, said the proposed order “falls short.” The organization has also filed a federal lawsuit against the city over alleged Clean Water Act violations.

“Just last year, Atlanta signed on to a similar settlement agreement with EPD and the illegal pollution continued,” Jason Ulseth, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s executive director, said in a statement. “At this point, we believe a federal enforcement order is the only way to force meaningful change, so we will continue to pursue our federal case.”

Last May, the city was fined $163,056 for a litany of violations, including raw sewage spills into state waters at RM Clayton and other facilities.

The RM Clayton plant is not the city’s only problem. In September, Atlanta was fined $40,000 for combined sewer overflows at its Custer Avenue facility on the east side.

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