The floods may be gone for most of Atlanta, but officials say it will be weeks before all the waterways are free of sewage and sediment, and tons of trash collected by the storms is cleaned up.
On the Chattahoochee River, officials found an amazing array of junk surfacing as the water level dropped Thursday.
“We saw everything you can imagine,” said Sally Bethea with the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, “including a kayak hanging from a tree branch, a lot of plastics, a lot of balls, construction debris ...”
Bethea said federal officials tested the river and found the E. coli bacteria level was 42 times greater than the highest safe level.
“There is no way you want to get in or even touch water [this dirty],” Bethea said. “I’ve never seen the water so filthy. It was just filthy, and it didn’t smell very good in some places.”
The river tour also found massive shoreline damage, including collapsed banks and fallen trees.
At the same time, Atlanta officials said their R.M. Clayton sewage treatment plant, the same one that was swamped by the flood, has been inundated with trash brought in by the high water.
The city said Thursday that it was able to partially treat waste coming into the facility. City officials still don’t know when it will be fully functional again.
“We are doing our part by getting the plant back up and running,” said Janet Ward, with the city’s Watershed Management Department. “Now it’s time for people to do their part. They need to stop dumping trash in the streets. It comes into the system through the storm drains.”
State and federal officials say they’ve been closely monitoring water quality to protect the health of the public and animals that come in contact with the Chattahoochee and other waterways.
The U.S. Park Service on Wednesday shut down use of portions of the Chattahoochee, citing the dumping of raw sewage from broken sewage lines in Roswell. Rangers threatened fines for anyone violating their order.
Tim Cash with the state Environmental Protection Division said his office took water samples around Atlanta’s sewage plant shortly after it failed earlier this week.
He said field tests showed the water remains capable of supporting life despite the flood of sewage.
That’s because, Cash said, so much water has flushed through the system.
Cash said some flow measuring gauges posted numbers 50 times higher than normal during the heaviest rains.
Given such volume, even the 180 million gallons the Clayton plant treats daily can be absorbed, he said.
He added more detailed tests on fecal coliform bacteria and other pollutants aren’t back yet.
“It seems like a lot, 180 million gallons, but it’s a small volume in the river,” Cash said. “The main risk [to the public] from the river is that it might have a pathogen in it. Of course, that’s a potential problem even at normal times.”
The dangers will become more pronounced, Cash said, as the floodwaters recede and flows return to normal.
As the amount of water declines, the contaminants become a greater portion of the river.
The water and trash aren’t the only hazards, said Dr. Patrice Harris, head of the Fulton County Health Department. She said the muck left behind and the toys, clothes, furniture and other items touched by floodwaters should be considered contaminated.
“You should consider the floodwaters contained dangerous materials,” Harris said. “Folks should be careful. Wearing protective gear [before any cleanup effort] is key.”
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