State Environmental Protection Division Found No Problems With Oconee County Sewage Plant Discharge Based On Data County Prov

The Georgia Environment Protection Division detected no problems with the quality of water discharged from Oconee County’s two wastewater treatment facilities during the September 2013 to April 2015 period, even though the agency criticized the county for “serious violations” of its permits to operate the plants during that time.

The EPD reached its conclusion about the quality of the discharge based on monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports filed by the county during that time period.

The county conducted the analysis used to complete those reports based on samples it drew from discharge of it treatment plant on Calls Creek just outside Watkinsville and from discharge at its Land Application System on Rocky Branch Road near a tributary to Barber Creek.

Self-report of data on discharges from the plants is what is required by the state as part of the permits the county holds to release treated sewage water into Calls Creek and onto the hay field at its Rocky Branch facility.

Based on those county reports, signed by Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, the county’s two plants met state standards for fecal coliform, total suspended solids, and a host of other criteria.

For more on this story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: One of the Charts from the Discharge Monitoring Report for April 2015.