Atlanta sewer plant repairs could take weeks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s swamped sewer plant continued to pour hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Chattahoochee River Wednesday.
And, city officials said they still have no idea when the R.M. Clayton plant will be repaired, how much it will cost or when they’ll be able to stop pouring filth into the Chattahoochee.
“The secondary treatment remains off line,” said Janet Ward, with Atlanta’s Watershed Management Department. “We are not even close to an answer yet on repairs. That involves big motors and other machines that are going to have to be dried out and repaired or replaced.”
Ward did say the city’s looking at weeks, not days before repairs will be made.
The plant, which can treat up to 240 million gallons of sewage a day, is the largest in the southeastern United States. It went out of service Monday when the Chattahoochee River surged 12 feet above flood stage.
The water swamped the plant and Cobb County’s R.L. Sutton plant across the river and Gwinnett’s sewage treatment plant on the Yellow River.
Normally, massive sewage spills by local governments would generate huge fines from the state Environmental Protection Division.
However, Tim Cash with EPD, said the state would be likely waive fines for local governments since these releases of untreated human waste are due to a natural disaster. Cash said EPD had tested the river above and below Atlanta’s sewer plant and found minimal impact.
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