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Major 6.4 million gallon sewage spill in DeKalb poses health risk

The site of a sewage spill on Eagle s Beek Circle near Stonecrest on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. TYLER ESTEP / TYLER.ESTEP@AJC.COM
The site of a sewage spill on Eagle s Beek Circle near Stonecrest on Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. TYLER ESTEP / TYLER.ESTEP@AJC.COM
By
Aug 30, 2017

The latest raw sewage spill in DeKalb County is also its largest in 11 years, even bigger than another spill earlier this month.

DeKalb officials reported Tuesday that 6.4 million gallons of sewage burst from a broken pipe last week outside Stonecrest, south of Flat Shoals Parkway.

That’s enough sewage to fill nearly 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The latest spill, which lasted four days before it was stopped Sunday, exceeds the nearly 4 million gallons that spewed into Nancy Creek in Brookhaven a couple of weeks ago.

Both spills create a public health risk and show the consequences of DeKalb's collapsing sewer infrastructure.

Exclusive to subscribers: Read the full story on myAJC.com.

The break happened near the intersection of Flat Shoals Parkway and Snapfinger Road in Lithonia.

About the Author

Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.

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