CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Tests after a 33,000-gallon sewage spill from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport found E. coli levels in a tributary of the Flint River so high they were “too numerous to count,” according to workers with the Flint Riverkeeper.
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This is at least the fourth spill into the Flint River watershed this year, according to the organization.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna says the airport spills have included everything from untreated sewage to jet fuel.
Last week, the airport announced the sewage spilled into Sullivan Creek, a small stream that feeds the Flint River south of Atlanta. The river serves as a drinking water source for roughly 400,000 Georgians.
“I learned how to tie fishing knots in the river. It was the reason I became a biologist,” R.J. Gipaya, a biologist with the Flint Riverkeeper, said.
After the spill, Gipaya visited the area and said he found evidence of environmental damage, including dead fish. He said pollutants released into the Flint River’s headwaters can have consequences far downstream.
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“If we start clean, we continue clean down the way. But if we’re getting pollution at the headwaters, then there are most certainly going to be issues downstream,” Gipaya said.
According to Gipaya, water samples collected about five miles downstream from the spill site showed E. coli concentrations beyond the upper limits of laboratory testing.
He said the readings were at least 10 to 20 times higher than levels typically considered safe for recreational contact with water. However, he’s concerned E. coli could just be one of the problems.
“What we’re really concerned about is everything else, all the other carcinogens and the viruses and bacteria that can affect humans that are in the waste,” Gipaya said.
The spill comes as the Flint Riverkeeper announced last month it plans to sue the airport over repeated spills.
At the time, April Lipscomb, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said legal action became a necessary last resort.
“I do think it is sort of a last resort,” Lipscomb said. “They have not done what they need to do to prevent these types of spills from recurring and discharging into the river.”
The airport didn’t respond to a request from comment.
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