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Sandy Springs, GA — On July 9, 2020 Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA, Park) released an environmental assessment covering the proposed installation of a diversion utility sewer line in the park’s Johnson Ferry North unit. The line would be constructed by the Fulton County Department of Public Works (FCDPW) under terms of a Special Use Permit to be issued by the National Park Service (NPS). The public is invited to review the environmental assessment and provide comments to the NPS by July 24, 2020. Public comment is sought pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended.
The environmental assessment assesses the impacts of constructing, operating, and maintaining a thirty-inch-diameter, 1.2-mile long force main sewer pipeline in an existing utility easement. The purpose of the pipeline is to divert wastewater from the FCDPW’s Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility while that facility is being upgraded. At present, the Park experiences water quality degradation due to the burdened wastewater system in the north metro Atlanta area. During and after a heavy rainfall, sewer heads are overflowing and releasing raw sewage and artifacts into the river, tributaries, and surrounding park units. The proposed pipeline will alleviate the current burden to the sewer infrastructure system in an area of the park that experiences significant sewage spills regularly.
The proposed pipeline would be directionally bored under the river just downstream from Morgan Falls Dam, entering the park in the lower fields of Hyde Farm at the northern end of the Johnson Ferry North unit. The pipeline would travel 1.2 miles through the Johnson Ferry unit before connecting to the Cobb County Water System (CCWS). The pipeline would be constructed adjacent to other existing pipelines.
The environmental assessment can be viewed, and comments posted, at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/fultonsewer. Comments are due by July 24, 2020. In lieu of a public meeting, and in order to safeguard public health during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a video presentation describing the project and summarizing the environmental assessment has been posted at https://www.fcdiversion.com/.
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Last updated: July 10, 2020