‘Massive’ sewage spill closing parts of Chattahoochee River coming from Roswell wastewater treatment plant

It has allowed untreated sewage to navigate into the river, raising E. coli levels in the Chattahoochee and making the water both unsafe and unhealthy.

ROSWELL, Ga. — A recent sewage spill that has closed at least 15 miles of the Chattahoochee River is coming out of the Big Creek Wastewater Treatment plant in Fulton County, a riverkeeper told 11Alive Sunday.

A malfunction at the treatment plant located at 1030 Marietta Highway in Roswell allowed untreated sewage to navigate into the river, raising E. coli levels in the Chattahoochee and making the water both unsafe and unhealthy, riverkeeper Jason Usleth said.

When the plant is functioning properly, the sewage that comes from homes and businesses in the area passes through the treatment facility where it gets treated to a safe level and then pumped into the river in a “very safe” way, according to Usleth.

“It’s a pretty big (spill),” Usleth said. “So this is a massive sewer spill in comparison to some of the other ones that we’ve seen lately. So this is a big spill going into the river.”

Usleth did say the situation is looking better, however.

“The latest update is there is some good news though. So while the county has not been able to get the entire plant back in operation, they have been able to set up a disinfection system,” Usleth explained. “So at this point, hopefully anything that’s going through the plant that’s going into the river is now disinfected.”

Usleth said that testing is an issue because of timing. The bacteria has to be collected, grown, incubated and then encountered before being able to get results back. The turnaround for testing time is 18 hours, Usleth said.

Eleven miles of the river had previously been closed Saturday from Johnson Ferry to the East Palisades-Whitewater Creek area. On Sunday, the closure was extended from the Chattahoochee Nature Center to all downstream sections.

The shut down of part of the river stems from a sewage spill at Willeo Creek Park in Roswell. The move was previously described by river officials as precautionary and at the recommendation of health officials to assess the contamination. It is completely off-limits for people to use.

Usleth said riverkeepers will go back to collect another sample of the river bacteria tomorrow to undergo further testing, but results won’t come through until another 18 hours later.

Elevated levels of E. coli levels can lead to health concerns with common symptoms manifesting as diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and fever. Children, the elderly or people with a weak immune system could see more severe symptoms.

At this time, the affected portion of the river appears to be closed for the entire Fourth of July weekend and into the July 4 holiday itself on Tuesday.

People can check the closure status here.