COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The latest report on a massive fish kill on the Chattahoochee River in May says nearly 45,000 fish died thanks to combined sewer overflow and stormwater flowing from an emergency release tunnel at the height of rush hour traffic.
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s report from Wednesday said that sewage and stormwater overflowed from the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management’s West Area Tunnel for more than five hours, putting almost six million gallons of untreated or minimally treated sewage and stormwater into Peachtree Creek.
The report was published by the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, saying that the only impacted section of the Chattahoochee in Georgia was a stretch of river from Peachtree Creek to the City of south Fulton.
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"The fish kill did not occur upstream in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, nor downstream in West Point Lake nor the river flowing through Columbus, which is nearly 100 miles downstream of Atlanta," the report says.
In an accompanying report from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, state officials said as they headed upstream to analyze the fish kill, “staff observed increasing numbers of dead fish.”
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Along with the growing number of fish corpses, staff observed a buildup of strong sewage odor and excessive trash and litter.
Even the movement of the boat drew black sludge up into the water from the river bottom, the report says.
"At this time, CRK believes low flows in the river due to drought, massive, polluted stormwater flows from Peachtree Creek, an overflow of sewage and stormwater from the City of Atlanta’s combined sewer system into Peachtree Creek, and additional treated discharges from wastewater facilities into the Chattahoochee River created the conditions for the fish kill," according to a statement from the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
That combination is what Jason Ulseth, the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper executive director, led to a “perfect storm” for the massive fish kill.
According to the riverkeeper, the last time a fish kill of this magnitude happened was in 2011, when King America Finishing, Inc. released pollutants into the water and killed 38,000 fish over 77 miles of water.
Due to the sewer overflow, black sludge spread along the riverbank and river bottom, along with the presence of excessive amounts of trash and litter.
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper said paper products, sanitary wipes, condoms and feminine hygiene products were all found in the water after the fish kill.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division said the loss of the 44,500 fish in May was valued at $840,000, though no threatened or endangered species were found among the thousands of dead fish.
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