FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County officials say it could take a week before sections of the Chattahoochee River are re-opened to the public.
“This is a serious emergency,” Jason Ulseth from the Chattahoochee Riverkeepers said.
Ulseth said their nonprofit along with the National Park Service are keeping a close eye on the E. coli levels floating along the Chattahoochee River.
While county officials now say it was a large volume of chemicals -- not a sewer spill, that caused high levels of E.Coli in the Chattahoochee River over the busy holiday weekend, Ulseth said the Riverkeepers disagree.
“This is absolutely a sewage spill,” he told Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln.
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Lincoln was at the Fulton County Water Treatment Plant Monday, where officials said an unknown chemical entered the system and prevented sewage from being thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before it was released back into the river.
Officials are still working to determine which chemical malfunctioned.
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Fifteen miles of the river are currently now closed between the Chattahoochee Nature Center and White Water Park, though less than five miles away at Azalea Park in Roswell, the river remains open and is considered safe.
David Clark, the Executive Director of Fulton County Public Works, told Channel 2 Action News the normal process of treating water involves sewage being filtered and disinfected and then released back into the river.
In this case, a chemical did not trigger safety mechanisms to stop the release back into the river, which resulted in wastewater material that was not thoroughly clean being released.
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“What we believe is happening that toxic introduction unsettled that process and what has now happened is the water is now being partially treated as it comes through this plant and not fully treated anymore,” Clark said. “It’s important to note it’s not raw sewage that’s entering the Chattahoochee River.”
The county is now diverting five to seven million gallons of sewage to neighboring Cobb County. 15 million gallons are currently still being pumped into the Chattahoochee River.
They’re also trying to enhance the wastewater treatment system’s biological process, which means they are changing the PH levels in the affected area to encourage bug growth. They’re also bringing in truckloads of bugs to help with this process.
A spokesperson with Fulton County clarified that the bugs they’re referring to are “good” bacteria (or microbes) that are used and introduced in wastewater treatment. They are not insects or literal bugs.
Clark said there is no timeline on when levels will return to normal, but anticipates seeing a decline in the next seven days. He told Channel 2 Action News it will take about 18 hours for test results to come back.
The section of the Chattahoochee River closed due to the E. coli has grown twice since it was first reported Friday.
Clark said they are continuing to investigate what the chemical is. He said it could be as simple as someone draining a pool recently.
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