Summer 2018 A publication of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) Recognize the Recreators! INCREASE RIVER PROTECTION BELOW ATLANTA It should be no secret “We have a lot of eagles nesting, osprey flying up from West the Chattahoochee downstream of Atlanta Point Lake. People love it. We see a couple thousand people is dramatically cleaner than it was when CRK paddling this stretch each year.” first stood up to protect the river more than - Chris Chastine, Whitewater Learning Center of Georgia two decades ago. Once severely polluted, the stretch of river from Atlanta’s wastewater discharge at Peachtree Creek down to West At the beginning of 2018, we appealed to Point Lake has rebounded significantly and Atlanta EPD to update the Designated Use of this riverside communities have taken note. section of the Chattahoochee to include Recreation. We documented over 1,800 Each year, hundreds of people fish, paddle, paddlers on this river section from 89 trips swim, canoe and wade in this part of the organized by CRK and other organizations. river. New initiatives promoting river access Residents along this section voiced are emerging everywhere from west Atlanta strong support for our request, and down to Franklin and West Point Lake. And we provided EPD with over 500 yet despite this resurgence in river signatures and comments from recreation, the state of Georgia holds most residents who described their the petition at: of this 76 mile section of the Chattahoochee experiences swimming, to its lowest standard for water quality. CRK chattahoochee.org paddling and fishing on this has been working to change that. /epdpetition. part of the river. The good news is that improving the water Fortunately, EPD took notice. With quality standard for this part of the river is a step in the right direction, the fairly straightforward. It all comes down to agency recently redesignated 13 river Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division miles near Chattahoochee Bend State Park (EPD) updating the “Designated Use” West Point Lake to include Recreation. That leaves 63 miles category they assign to this part of the river. to go. The remaining river miles flow past EPD uses Designated Use categories to set Cobb, Fulton, Douglas, Carroll, Coweta and limits on the wastewater released into Heard counties, and CRK believes that residents of these counties deserve access different sections of our rivers. A river to a Chattahoochee with the same "This unspoiled section of the section whose Designated Use is Drinking protections that the river has further north. Chattahoochee River has a Water or Recreation is better protected than You can help make that happen. wild and natural beauty. a section whose Designated Use is Fishing. Most of the Chattahoochee River between Floating down the river, you If you live near the Chattahoochee between Atlanta and West Point Lake has been will see trees, wildflowers, Peachtree Creek in Atlanta and West Point categorized under EPD’s least protective Lake, ask your city and county blue heron, hawks, turtles, category, Fishing, since the time when this representatives to encourage Georgia EPD bass, and perhaps even an part of river was dramatically impacted by to update the Designated Use of this entire eagle.” pollution. EPD claims that not enough people section of river to include Recreation, and - Diana Wilson, spend time on this part of the river to merit sign our request to the agency at Chattahoochee Hills Parks Commission updating that designation, but our research chattahoochee.org/epdpetition. shows otherwise. STAFF REFLECTIONS TURNING LEMONS MELANIE BAIRD COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER TAMMY BATES INTO LEMONADE OUTINGS MANAGER HANNAH BRADFORD WATERSHED PROTECTION SPECIALIST & NATURALIST Environmental Project (SEP). A SEP involves LAURA BREYFOGLE the defendant making a payment to a third WPLFC NATURALIST party non-profit organization to do related TAELAR BYBEE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE restoration work. DALE CALDWELL HEADWATERS DIRECTOR Recently, CRK filed a lawsuit against a JULIET COHEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR construction development firm that allowed ERIK FYFE untold quantities of mud and sediment to pour WATERSHED PROTECTION SPECIALIST into the Chattahoochee River National HENRY JACOBS MIDDLE CHATTAHOOCHEE DIRECTOR Recreation Area. While all of that mud could KEVIN JESELNIK not be recovered, in our settlement GENERAL COUNSEL negotiations the developer agreed to pay BECCA KLEIN $265,000 to five local, environmentally-focused DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR In my 15-year professional career, I have seen organizations. This money will allow thousands CHRIS MANGANIELLO many terrible violations of our environmental WATER POLICY DIRECTOR of underserved kids to participate in outdoor laws. From blatant destruction of streams MICHAEL MEYER education programs, fund more than three NEIGHBORHOOD WATER WATCH DIRECTOR paving way for unpermitted development to years of water quality research in the river REBECCA RISSER open dumping of oil products; it never ceases PSCIP FELLOW park, train the next generation of environmental to shock me what some people are willing to JESSICA STERLING lawyers, and support clean water protection TECHNICAL PROGRAMS DIRECTOR do to skirt the rules. In the cases where the bad HANNAH STEFANOFF work. HENRY BABSON WEST ATLANTA WATER FELLOW actor is caught, fines can be levied and cleanup ordered, but in most cases the damage to our SUZETTE TAYLOR While I was frustrated and saddened by the FINANCIAL MANAGER environment is never fully remedied. Fines environmental degradation the poorly executed JASON ULSETH collected go to a general fund and are not RIVERKEEPER construction development caused, I am very allocated for any environmental benefit while HANNAH WARNER pleased to have turned a negative situation into HEADWATERS OUTREACH COORDINATOR the pollution remains in our waterways. CHRISTINA YORK something positive. So the saying goes, “When DATABASE MANAGER life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But organizations like ours have a way to help BOARD OF DIRECTORS offset the damage to our environment with an J. RUTHERFORD SEYDEL II, CHAIR unconventional method. In cases of egregious DAVE KIRKPATRICK, VICE-CHAIR acts, CRK will file a citizen lawsuit under the LEE CHADWICK REBECCA CRANFORD Clean Water Act. In many cases, we resolve the FELICIA DAVIS dispute through settlement negotiations. To SARAH DEARMAN counter the environmental damage inflicted on DENISE DONAHUE the river, we propose a Supplemental Jason Ulseth, RIVERKEEPER BERT ELLIS MARK GREATREX GERARD GUNTHERT BILLY HALL VICTOR HAYDEL RICHARD JACOBSON FACES MARY ANNE LANIER OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE DANIEL LOCKE JEFF MOKOTOFF STEVE O’DAY JAMIE PRYOR MARY SCHREPFER “People need access DAVID SHAFFER to our waters, to LAURA SMITH CATHERINE WOODLING interact with the creek, put their feet in it, put their hands in it, and understand Our mission is to advocate and secure that it is a pure place the protection and stewardship worth protecting.” of the Chattahoochee River, its lakes, tributaries and watershed. JUANITA WALLACE ATLANTA OFFICE 3 PURITAN MILL Resident, 916 JOSEPH LOWERY BLVD. Proctor Creek Atlanta ATLANTA, GA 30318 404-352-9828 GAINESVILLE OFFICE 104 WASHINGTON STREET, S.E. Juanita Wallace vividly remembers growing up on Proctor Creek, “The water was so clear, I would GAINESVILLE, GA 30501 678-696-8866 sit there for hours with my feet in it, captivated by the freshness of the air, hearing the sound of the creek, the birds, the bees. When you see life around the water, it gives you a sense of its LAGRANGE OFFICE 35 LAFAYETTE SQUARE purity.” As a highly-engaged community leader, weekly Neighborhood Water Watch volunteer LAGRANGE GA 30240 and concerned Proctor Creek steward, Juanita feels personal connection is imperative to 706-882-3701 conservation. “People need access to our waters, to interact with the creek, put their feet in it, WWW.CHATTAHOOCHEE.ORG put their hands in it, and understand that it is a pure place worth protecting.” 2 RIVERCHAT CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVERKEEPER ON PATROL WITH CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVERKEEPER BROKEN EQUIPMENT AT OIL PROCTOR CREEK IN COMPANY THREATENS FLAT CREEK REAL-TIME In April, CRK’s Headwaters office received a In February, CRK deployed a water HOTLINE report about a malfunctioning piece quality sensor in Proctor Creek of equipment located at an oil company in that measures temperature, pH, midtown Gainesville at the headwaters of Flat conductivity, and dissolved oxygen Creek, which flows into Lake Lanier. We every 15 minutes and relays the investigated the site and found an oily sheen data in real-time over a cellular in the parking lot near the creek. We reported network. The sensor is part of a the violation to the City of Gainesville and are larger project spearheaded by EPA, continuing to monitor the area weekly. and our sensor is one of a dozen in Georgia. We participated in a two- day workshop hosted by EPA staff, where we learned to build, program ROLLBACKS IN PERMIT FOR and deploy the open source water CUMMING CHICKEN PROCESSOR quality sensor. We plan to build a network of these devices across Tyson Foods in Cumming operates a the watershed to help us identify wastewater plant to treat water used in pollution problems in critical areas. processing and packaging live chickens. The wastewater, which can contain high levels of bacteria and ammonia, is released into Orr Creek, a tributary of Big Creek. Tyson’s wastewater discharge permit expires this year and is up for renewal. In April, CRK submitted comments to the GA EPD on a draft permit and pointed out several problems with the permit, including rollbacks to the limits of bacteria and ammonia the facility can discharge into Orr Creek. MASSIVE TIRE DUMP DISCOVERED AND REMOVED During a sewer spill inspection, we discovered some 10,000+ tires at an abandoned apartment complex in west Atlanta’s Valley of the Hawks. CRK alerted the GA EPD and City of Atlanta who worked together to clear out the tires. Abandoned tire piles are a public health threat as tires can hold water and create habitat for disease harboring mosquitoes.