Macon judge approves agreement between Flint Riverkeeper, Southern Mills
Pollution case resolution comes after years of work
File Photo: Carlton Fletcher
From Staff Reports
MACON — A federal judge in Macon approved an agreement reached between Flint Riverkeeper Inc., neighboring property owners and Southern Mills Inc. to resolve a citizen suit brought by Flint Riverkeeper and the property owners under the Clean Water Act concerning wastewater discharges at Southern Mills’ Molena plant.
“We are pleased the company has worked with us and the private property owners to resolve this case,” Gordon Rogers, the executive director of Flint Riverkeeper, said in a news release. “The new effluent limits and improvements to the company’s wastewater treatment system should substantially improve water quality, both for the waters immediately adjacent to the site and for nearby tributaries. The improvements also may have the ancillary benefit of controlling odors near the plant.
“We will ensure that the improvements are implemented and look forward to partnering with the company going forward to protect the Flint River watershed.”
The case is Flint Riverkeeper Inc. v. Southern Mills Inc. d/b/a TenCate Protective Fabrics, No. 16-CV-435 (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia). Attorneys Hutton Brown and April Lipscomb with the Southern Environmental Law Center and Donald D.J. Stack and Tyler Sniff with Stack & Associates P.C. in Atlanta represented Flint Riverkeeper. Stack and Associates also represented the private property owners.
Attorney Don Stack said preparing the case, filing it and getting the judge’s approval was “four and a half, almost five years” in the making. Stack said he met with property owners two years before
“It was over two years’ worth of work just to get the case prepared to file,” Stack said. “You’ve got to develop all your evidence and lab and water samples. … We had monthly meetings for probably at least a full year with their experts and our experts in which we went through their processes: how they operated, what they did, what they could do, different suggestions on both sides, and then reached agreements on that. It was really cooperative, but it just takes a long time to work through because you’re trying not to impact their business but — at the same time — fix the problem.”
Southern Mills manufactures inherently fire-resistant fabrics. Flint Riverkeeper’s 2016 citizen suit alleged that industrial wastewater from the dyeing and finishing of textiles at Southern Mills’ Molena plant illegally left the boundaries of Southern Mills’ land application system and polluted the Flint River’s nearby groundwater and tributaries. In response, Southern Mills denied the allegations and asserted that it operated its land application system in compliance with the law and that any environmental impacts from its operations did not harm human health or the environment.
A land application system is a wastewater treatment method that involves treating wastewater through a series of aerated ponds and then spraying it onto large spray fields located on Southern Mills’ property. On the property, the wastewater receives further treatment through absorption in the soil and plant uptake. Southern Mills currently operates the system under a permit issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Southern Mills has worked under permits and requirements managed by the Georgia EPD since 1988. The permits require renewal every five years, and the current permit was issued in 2014.
Under the consent decree entered by the court, Southern Mills agreed to meet new limits for specific pollutants in the wastewater sprayed onto fields. To meet these new limits in the next five years, Southern Mills agreed to invest in and construct significant improvements to its aeration ponds and wastewater pretreatment system. These new restrictions exceed limits currently required by state or federal agencies. Flint Riverkeeper contends that the new limits are necessary to meet the goals of the Clean Water Act.
Also as part of the consent decree, Southern Mills agreed to dispose of any waste generated by the improvements in a permitted landfill, implement measures to increase the treatment capacity of the spray fields and to conduct additional and more frequent soil and water sampling. Southern Mills also will provide funding for Flint Riverkeeper to monitor the decree and for American Rivers to improve the Flint River watershed.
Southern Mills Representative Mike Anderson said, “Southern Mills has remained a vital part of the Georgia manufacturing base and the Upson County Community for over 26 years. We remain committed to the vital resources of all communities in which we operate. We have agreed to invest in and achieve these unprecedented and negotiated limits to be both a leader and partner to ensure the Flint River basin continues to thrive for future generations.”
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