Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and City of Atlanta settle Clean Water Act lawsuit

Water babbles among the rocks near where treated wastewater pours into the Chattahoochee River from an outfall. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

The City of Atlanta and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper have settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit over the city’s largest wastewater plant, which repeatedly spilled sewage and polluted water into the Chattahoochee River.

Nonprofit Chattahoochee Riverkeeper filed the lawsuit in 2024, claiming that for several months, their water tests found high levels of E. coli and other contaminants downstream of Atlanta’s R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment plant. On average, CRK said E. coli levels were 340 times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommendations for safe water recreation.

Now, the City of Atlanta and CRK have settled the suit.