ROME, Ga. — A lawsuit between a northwest Georgia city and environmental advocates has been settled as of Thursday.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Coosa River Basin Initiative (CRBI) and the City of Calhoun came to a comprehensive settlement regarding how to protect the Coosa River Basin from years of “widespread PFAS pollution.”
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more popularly known as “forever chemicals,” have been improperly discharged into the water system near Calhoun for years due to “unrestricted discharge of PFAS into the wastewater treatment plant,” according to SELC.
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CRBI and SELC filed a federal lawsuit against Calhoun to ensure the water supply contamination would be put to a stop, saying that for several years, PFAS had been disposed of in the wastewater treatment plant, allowing them to seep into and contaminate sewage sludge.
“This has always been about clean water,” Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, executive director & Riverkeeper at Coosa River Basin Initiative, said. “Healthy rivers and clean drinking water aren’t a luxury– they are a necessity. When we uncovered the threat posed to this community’s watershed by these unrestricted toxic industrial chemicals, CRBI had little choice but to step in when others would not. The continued success of the region depends on striking that healthy balance between a thriving industry, and clean, safe water resources that our communities rely on.”
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That same contaminated sewage sludge was then disposed of on agricultural land, leading to a groundwater contamination that bled into nearby rivers used for drinking water, SELC and CBRI said in their federal lawsuit.
Now that a settlement has been reached, SELC said the terms would lead to an overhaul of Calhoun’s wastewater treatment plant’s pretreatment program, extensive drinking water well investigation and remedies for qualified residents and a requirement that the city upgrades its drinking water plants to treat for PFAS, if a judge approves the proposal.
“By uncovering this problem and ultimately bringing suit to address it, this settlement delivers on the promise of what our environmental laws are intended to achieve,” said Chris Bowers, SELC senior attorney. “Families should not be exposed to toxic industrial chemicals in their drinking water because of industry failures to adequately monitor for and treat their wastewater, and public wastewater systems should not sit idly by and allow that to continue.”
Bowers added that the consent decree, if approved, meant that Calhoun would get to work on fixing the PFAS problem, and that “others must follow.”
Going forward, CRBI said they were working with the city to jointly have the decree approved by a federal judge, resolving the lawsuit.
According to CRBI, the full scope of the settlement terms include:
- Overhaul of Calhoun’s Wastewater Treatment Plant so that it regulates PFAS. An independent monitor will be designated to oversee a PFAS investigation of the wastewater plant, and the city will implement agreed-to changes which will modernize Calhoun’s industrial pretreatment program in line with EPA PFAS guidance, transforming it into a leader in PFAS pretreatment regulation by publicly owned treatment works.
- Residential well survey and remedial action for affected residents. Residents with private drinking water wells within 2 miles of designated sludge land application sites will qualify for free PFAS testing, with notices to be sent by mail. Depending on the sampling results, residents will be eligible to have their homes connected to the municipal water system free of charge or have a point of entry home filter system installed and operated for free for up to 10 years, subject to certain conditions.
- Injunction to upgrade the City’s two drinking water plants. The city will be required to continue interim emergency water treatment measures to reduce PFAS in the public water supply, provide more transparency to the public, and make all reasonable efforts to recover costs necessary to upgrade both of its drinking water treatment facilities to meet MCLs and effectively reduce PFAS from third parties.
- Sludge Field Remedial Injunction. The Consent Decree will include an injunction to cease sludge land application near rivers and water treatment plant source waters, and order the city to make all reasonable efforts to recover costs necessary to reduce or eliminate PFAS discharges from the main sludge field that is contaminating Calhoun’s drinking water supply on the Coosawattee River from third parties.
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