Lawsuit filed against north Georgia city over ‘forever chemical’ in drinking water
By Andy Pierrotti
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ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — Atlanta News First Investigates has learned of claims against a north Georgia city accused of contaminating drinking water.
The claims involve the City of Calhoun, which is about an hour north of Atlanta.
The allegations involve a chemical compound that unfortunately has become prevalent in the area. That compound is PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl, a group of chemicals linked to severe illness, including cancer. The compound is often called the “forever chemical” because it does not break down naturally.
On Thursday afternoon, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit against the city. The lawsuit claims Calhoun’s wastewater treatment plant is polluting the region with PFAS in two ways.
The first: discharging PFAS directly to the Coosawattee River from a sludge field upstream from one of the city’s main drinking water intakes. The second: contaminating groundwater with PFAS from previously dumped sludge.
The city operates a publicly-owned wastewater treatment plant that receives and treats industrial wastewater from major carpet producers — industries known to use PFAS.
“It’s generally understood that to be a very bad thing when you have forever chemicals that are occupying these public waters and natural resources,” Chris Bowers, attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said. “The permit system needs to work as intended to prevent entering the environment, these chemicals from entering the environment.”
Atlanta News First Investigates reached out to city officials for comment on the lawsuit.
While the city hasn’t responded yet, its website recognizes the contamination and is currently working to upgrade its water treatment plant, using a federal grant it received in 2023 for the upgrades.
Calhoun is not the only north Georgia city with a PFAS problem.
The City of Rome is currently building a new water treatment plant to remove PFAS after it discovered elevated levels of the chemical in the river that once supplied its drinking water.
In 2023, Atlanta News First tested Rome residents’ blood for the chemical. Our test results showed that the majority of residents had PFAS levels in higher than the national median.
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