Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Works with City to Clean Up Raw Sewage Spill at Buckhead Creek

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, along with the City of Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management, have helped stop a large raw sewage spill at Tanyard Creek, which flows through the Collier Hills neighborhood.

The nearly 10,000-gallon raw sewage spill was the result of the shutdown of a private garbage lift station at a nearby apartment complex. The electricity to the complex had been disconnected due to nonpayment, cutting off power to the lift station, where waste dripped into the creek instead of the city's sewer system.

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper staff members and volunteers through its Neighborhood Water Watch Program first discovered the sewage contamination  on July 2 from its regular sampling of streams.

"This is the first one of those we've encountered," said Sally Bethea, founding director of CRK. "This was a serious public health threat, and it could've been ongoing if staff and volunteers had not caught it when they did."

The contamination led to high bacteria levels, more than 120,000 MPN, which killed several fish in the creek. Bacteria counts are expressed as a most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters (mL), and 235 MPN is the standard for body contact/recreation.

On the first day, volunteers saw about seven to eight dead fish. The next day, there were nearly 60 dead fish.

They contacted Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management, which responded immediately and the problem was finally stopped on July 5.

Bethea said the problem was stopped a few days after it was first discovered because finding sewer sources can take a little more time in urban areas than in rural areas.

Tanyard Creek's bacteria levels have now dropped to 600 MPN, which Bethea said is not unusual for the creek, which a decade ago was "extremely polluted." Septic tanks and other sources of bacteria can leak into streams in more urban areas, she said.

"The good news is that the source of that pollution has stopped," Bethea said. "We shouldn't be afraid of these streams. Vigilance is really important.