Columbus’ stretch of Chattahoochee River is clean, official says
On March 31, Columbus Water Works (CWW) appealed Georgia’s new requirements of our combined sewer treatment system (CSS) at a hearing in the Superior Court of Muscogee County.
The innovative system was endorsed by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) when it was designed and built – and recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its innovative design. Georgia regulators, supported by environmental advocacy groups, asking ratepayers to now pay millions more for no appreciable further improvement is unreasonable.
Columbus’ stretch of the Chattahoochee River is clean. In fact, the EPA delisted our stretch of the river several years ago because it is no longer impaired. Our community has invested more than $100 million to ensure that.
The CSS constructed in the 1990s two major treatment facilities and a pipe system. The system protects our river during heavy rainfall and was the catalyst for uptown development. This is the story of a public-private partnership that solved a problem and resulted in a vibrant part of our city.
The underground infrastructure is supporting a revitalized river life that is attracting thousands of visitors to go white water rafting through the uptown stretch of the river. Families can bike along the river, play in the splash pad and enjoy lunch with friends. While all these activities are happening along the river, the CSS system is working below to keep all these things possible and, most importantly, to keep the river clean.
As stewards of the river, CWW performs testing in accordance with the permit plus voluntary testing three times per week within and near the whitewater rafting course. More than a quarter century of data demonstrates the CSS system is working to protect water quality. EPD is now changing the permit requirements with no supporting evidence that the new requirements are needed.
Our community has embraced the river.
For more than 25 years, CWW has been protecting one of our community’s most valuable resources. We have been a strong advocate and community partner in keeping our river clean. We take this as a personal responsibility. Our employees and families live and work here. We serve an important role in supporting the quality of life we all enjoy.
As responsible stewards of ratepayer funds and with our community facing many other critical infrastructure needs, we must advocate for our customers by appealing these unnecessary and costly changes. We believe these new permit requirements are the wrong approach and put an unfair and unlawful burden on our customers.
Our appeal is about fairness. CWW – and our community – deserves a hearing of the evidence before a decision is made.
Vic Burchfield is senior vice president of Columbus Water Works.