Treatment Pump Fails, Spills Sewage Into Chattahoochee River Tributary

Officials in an Atlanta suburb say sewage has been flowing into one of the Chattahoochee River’s main tributaries after a pump failed at a water treatment plant.

Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt tells news outlets that county drinking water is safe despite the untreated wastewater that has been flowing into Nickajack Creek since New Year’s Eve.

Cavitt says it isn’t clear how much untreated waste and stormwater has entered the river or when it will be stopped.

A state watershed compliance manager, Lewis Hays, says water leaked into part of the pump that has electrical components and caused it to fail.

Cavitt says the pump backup systems also failed. He says authorities won’t know exactly what happened until the facility is cleared of water.

Hays’ agency is investigating the spill.