"In particular, the County says it will miss the December 2027 deadline to construct wet-weather storage projects that are needed in the Snapfinger Basin to eliminate sewage overflows called Sanitary Sewer Overflows ("SOs") at 14 Priority Fix List ("PFL") locations in South DeKalb County."
So, even the "priority" areas in south DeKalb will not be fixed. Dig into the EPA status request and declarations including proposed "solutions" to sewage debacle and costs with major implications for the environment and water/sewer rates.
Below c/o @katdos and @unbelievabledekalbwaterbills:
Former CEO Thurmond alerted EPA on the *last possible day* of his tenure - December 31st, 2024, that Dekalb would FAIL to meet the consent decree deadline for repairing sewer pipes. Even with splitting the county into "priority" and "non-priority" areas, county decision makers failed to repair the "priority" list they curated themselves.
According to a local environmental attorney quoted in the Decaturish article, the county "underestimated the amount of sewer work needed by 50 percent" and "most puzzling is the county citing environmental justice concerns for its own failure to reduce pollution in the most overburdened communities."
Dig into the EPA status request and declarations including proposed "solutions" to the debacle with major implications for the environment and water/sewer rates.
"Priority" areas are in orange. "Non priority" areas, as defined by the consent decree, have no deadline for sewer and water pipe repair and make up 69% of the county. Much of the non priority areas are in south DeKalb where the percentage of minority population is over 90% (blue) and where the most sewage spills and largest volume of spills occur.