By Hannah E. Jones
On Monday, July 10, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) reopened a portion of the Chattahoochee River that was previously closed due to unsafe levels of E. coli.
Last week, fifteen of the CRNRA’s 48 miles were closed to the public because a June 28 water quality test showed E. coli levels at almost 300 times the recommended limits for recreation.
Now the river is only closed from the Chattahoochee Nature Center to Powers Island — river miles 315.5 to 307. The river is open to on-water recreation north of the nature center and south of Powers Island. However, the situation is still evolving and conditions may change.
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper noticed the spike during a routine water quality check and ultimately pinpointed North Fulton County’s Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility as the source. The Big Creek facility typically treats over 20 million gallons of sewage every day before putting the clean water back into the river.
However, a still unknown cause led the plant to dump untreated sewage into the Chattahoochee. The discharge is a violation of the Clean Water Act.
Fulton County officials and the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper are working together to mitigate the spill’s negative impacts on the river’s ecosystem. They have reintroduced healthy microorganisms that help with the water treatment process, and the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to release additional water through the Buford Dam to help dilute the contamination. This also helps regulate oxygen levels within the water which were lowered by the sewage and could pose issues for the animals who call the Chattahoochee home.
“When you have sewage introduced to any body of water, the bacteria that’s naturally present in the river starts to break down the organic material that’s within the sewage,” Riverkeeper Jason Ulseth said. “In that process, it eats up all the oxygen and replaces it with carbon dioxide. In a sewer spill, the major impact is not the sewage itself but it’s the depletion of oxygen that’s the concern.”
So far, there is no evidence that any aquatic animals have died from the discharge.
For updates on the status of the river closure, visit CRNRA’s website. Folks can also check out BacteriALERT, a timely map that monitors E. coli levels in the Chattahoochee.
