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9/5/2024
WT Staff
 Got water comments, questions or concerns? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email us at info@wtga.us
September 5, 2024 1028 am EDT
Hazardous Weather Outlook issued 512 am Thurs Sep 5 by NWS Peachtree City
Isolated thunderstorms are expected in portions of central Georgia, roughly along and south of a line from Columbus to Macon this afternoon and evening. The main threats with any thunderstorms that develop will be heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and frequent lightning.
Isolated thunderstorms are possible during the afternoon and evening on Friday and Saturday in central Georgia. The main threats with any thunderstorms that develop will be heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and frequent lightning. Periods of heavy rainfall are possible for portions of north and central Georgia on Friday into Saturday. Current rainfall totals are forecast to be in the 1-3" range, with highest totals for areas south of a line extending from Columbus to Macon. Isolated instances of flash flooding are possible.
Impacting Baldwin-Banks-Barrow-Bartow-Bibb-Bleckley-Butts-Carroll-Catoosa-Chattahoochee-Chattooga-Cherokee-Clarke-Clayton-Cobb-Coweta-
Crawford-Crisp-Dade-Dawson-DeKalb-Dodge-Dooly-Douglas-Emanuel-
Fannin-Fayette-Floyd-Forsyth-Gilmer-Glascock-Gordon-Greene-
Gwinnett-Hall-Hancock-Haralson-Harris-Heard-Henry-Houston-Jackson-
Jasper-Jefferson-Johnson-Jones-Lamar-Laurens-Lumpkin-Macon-
Madison-Marion-Meriwether-Monroe-Montgomery-Morgan-Murray-
Muscogee-Newton-North Fulton-Oconee-Oglethorpe-Paulding-Peach-
Pickens-Pike-Polk-Pulaski-Putnam-Rockdale-Schley-South Fulton-
Spalding-Stewart-Sumter-Talbot-Taliaferro-Taylor-Telfair-Toombs-
Towns-Treutlen-Troup-Twiggs-Union-Upson-Walker-Walton-Warren-
Washington-Webster-Wheeler-White-Whitfield-Wilcox-Wilkes-Wilkinson Counties.
Hazardous Spill File
Accidents happen, contaminants are released/discharged every day from all manner of sources: industry, municipal wastewater, residential properties, vehicles. Whether intentional or accidental, spills can reach storm drains and enter water bodies, including drinking water sources.
Environmental Protection Division runs Georgia's 24 hour Emergency Operations Center. Spill incidents are to be reported within fifteen minutes of occurrence to the Emergency Operations Center 1-800-241-4113. Spills from a vessel into navigable waterways are reported to the Coast Guard National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
Sewage spills from blocked mains are common in Georgia, especially during heavy rain events where tens of thousands of gallons of sewage can be released from a single manhole overflow. More than 10 million gallons of spilled sewage entered the tributaries leading to Jacskson Lake in a single year, all of this pollution impacting the water quality for Ocmulgee River, a drinking water source for many counties and municipalities downstream. Oil and gas spills are also common, resulting from motor vehicle accidents and leaking tanks, large spills are reported here, tagged to the map in pink. Turn on the watershed layer and directional arrows to see the impact zone. Deliberate discharges are less common, these are investigated by the EPA Criminal Enforcement branch, if charges are laid under the Clean Water Act, historic criminal convictions and sentencing are covered here.
From a recent Hazardous Spill File here at WTGA.us, truckloads of chicken sludge reported dumped into fields in the Flint River watershed, these incident reports are reminiscent of public complaints of a similar nature around White and Washington Counties where callers reported seeing multiple tanker trucks dumping liquid on fields, many public complaints received of the terrible odor and presence of flies. WTGA.us investigated this complaint filing Freedom of Information Law request, locating documentation for a number of approved soil amendment products derived from industrial wastewater, including abbatoir cleanings, pet food plant cleanings and dairy facilities cleanings. A fish kill investigated by GA Natural Resources found one of these liquid soil amendment products had leaked from an old dairy lagoon had leaked into a creek, killing the fish. The land owner in this case was fined.
Even spilled milk can be harmful if it reaches a slow moving, shallow water body in quantity sufficient to reduce the dissolved oxygen level of the water body. Read more about a recent incident of spilled milk impacting an Ohio creek, here. A recent toxic material spill called in to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation included numerous highly flammable chemicals spilled in Manhattan last month .
Spills of toxic materials have the potential to endanger public health and contaminate groundwater, surface water, and soils, even in very small amounts. As we report on incidents potentially impacting drinking water sources in Georgia, see drinking water facility profiles with source water details here, and the latest EPA compliance stats for Georgia's drinking water facilities, here.
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