January 3, 2006
Dear Patricia,
This letter is being written by the Altamaha Riverkeeper,
Inc. (ARK) as a
plea for assistance on a development project in Cochran. This
site is part
of the construction project at Middle Georgia College (MGC)
as they proceed
to make MGC a four year school. The company doing this project
is Choate
Construction Company.
On 12-29-05 while working on another project in the Cochran/Bleckley
County
area I happened to ride by MGC and I observed the most scurrilous
act taking
place as I have ever witnessed at a construction site. Many
times have I
seen storm water discharged improperly from construction sites
but I have
never witnessed what this company was doing until now. |
12-29-05 Choate Construction Site |
12-29-05 Choate Construction Site |
Choate Construction Company had two large track
hoes on the dike of this so
called detention pond scooping up the muddy water and emptying
it over into
a private home owners yard (see attached photos). After dumping
the mud
into these folks yard it went into an underground drain and came
up into the
road ditch in front of the house (see photos). From the road
ditch the mud
traveled through an underground culvert to the head waters of
Jordan Creek a
couple hundred yards away (see attached photos).
I collected a
turbidity sample from the ditch in front of the private yard
and another as the mud entered Jordan Creek. Both samples indicated
turbidity that exceeded 1,000 NTU's. |
I have been informed by the people that live
in the house next to this so
called detention pond that Choate Construction Company pumped
the mud from
the pond to the drainage ditch today and again, it went to Jordan
Creek.
Now, when confronted by one of the company supervisors while
I was taking
photos from the Sixth Street easement on 12-29-05 he asked
how he could help
me? I very politely told him that he could help me by stopping
those
machines from dumping the muddy water off site. Of course,
that did not
happen, what did happen is; he told me I could not take pictures
of the job
site. I did go on to tell the supervisor that I felt like they
were
violating federal law by the way they were discharging storm
water from a
construction site. I also told him that I was going to call
EPD in Macon
and that I did. I am not sure, but I believe the lady I talked
with said
her name was Alexandria.
|
12-29-05 Dumping stormwater in Byrd Perry's yard. |
Later that afternoon I came back to take more
photos of the detention pond after it had been emptied. This
time I was confronted by the site superintendent and I told
him the same thing I had told his supervisor. At that time
he told me the next time they would pump the water out and
let it go through a silt fence and drain away. I did not say
anything that might would have helped this along, but I knew
that would be an improper way to discharge storm water.
Patricia, this site is large enough to have been required
to file a NOI. Has this company or MGC filed a NOI for this
site? Both of us also know that all rules and regulations require
that all BMP's be in place or in conjunction with the disturbing
of the earth on a construction site. It is quite obvious this
did not take place at this site.
|
12-29-05 Stormwater in drainage ditch. |
12-29-05 Stormwater in Byrd Perry's yard entering
underground drain pipe |
The ARK is requesting the EPD to investigate
this site using the NPDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharge
From a Construction Site. It does appear that this company
does not have a proper way to dispose of storm water and just
the photos alone appear to indicate a water quality violation
by the intentional discharge of turbid water and allowing it
to enter the head waters of Jordan Creek.
The ARK further requests that the EPD stop work at this site
until the construction company has all the BMP's in place to
prevent any further occurrances as happened on 12-29-05 and
01-03-06.
The ARK is also requesting a follow up as to any action(s)
taken or not taken at this site by the EPD.
As always, thank you in advance for your assistance
in this very important
matter. James Holland, Altamaha Riverkeeper |
12-29-05 Detention pond after draining |
12-29-05 Lifting stormwater from detention pond |
12-29-05 Stormwater emerges here |
12-29-05 Turbidity sample from Jordan Creed
exceeded 1000 ntu's |
12-29-05 Turbid water in the headwaters of Jordan Creek |
|
