2.8M Gallons Of Sewage Spills From DeKalb Sewers

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — Tropical Storm Fred brought heavy rains across metro Atlanta last week, dumping 3-4 inches of rain in 24 hours in DeKalb County — and causing 2.8 million gallons of sewage to spill into county waterways in 13 different locations.

More than 2.5 million gallons of sewage spilled from a manhole near Meadow Creek Path on Aug. 17, county officials said, flowing into the South River. This accounted for about 90 percent of the total spill volume that day; the remaining 10 percent, or about 300,000 gallons of sewage, spilled elsewhere.

At least 28.5 million gallons have gushed out of the Meadow Creek Path manhole since the start of 2020, which has caused public health and ecological dangers by dumping bacteria like E. coli into the South River, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. County officials said projects have been done to reduce spills, but they've continued anyway.

DeKalb County has long had an issue with its sewer system, resulting in a 2010 lawsuit alleging sewer overflow violated water cleanliness regulations. The county reached an agreement — or consent decree — in 2011 to clean up the sewers and bring them into compliance with the Clean Water Act.

But the county was not even close to finishing the work when the decree expired last June.

Federal and state prosecutors ordered DeKalb County to pay a $1 million fine for not completing the repairs in the original timeframe, but is giving the county until Dec. 20, 2027 to complete the work.

Related:

• Tropical Storm Fred May Cause Sewer Overflows, Spills In DeKalb
• Sewer Fixes: Prosecutors Favor New Deal With DeKalb
  
• Massive Sewage Spill In DeKalb County, 9.2 Million Gallons
• DeKalb's $438M Project Will Repair County's Sewer System