BACKGROUND
The Short Version
Human health and environmental health go hand in hand. We cannot live healthy lives when our our churchyards, schoolyards and backyards are polluted with toxic waste.
Failing sewer lines, off-gassing, and sewage spills have been polluting our community for over 30+ years. Every month, MILLIONS OF GALLONS of industrial waste – capable of causing respiratory disease and cancer – is sent through defective and leaky sewer lines in our community.
For years DeKalb County Government has covered-up environmental issues in our community. Greed and Corruption are at the core of this problem. Seminole Land Fill gets worst every year. Panola Beach situated along the South River is viewed as one of the most toxic places in the county.
Seminole Land Fill in the background. This hill did not exist 10 years ago. The smells are horrible for residents along River Road adjacent to the Landfill.
DeKalb County has allowed several public schools in South DeKalb to be located in highly-polluted areas, including Narvie J. Harris Elementary School, built near the Snapfinger Waste Water Treatment Plant. This school is known for having horrible smells within the building for the past 20+ years and to this date no one knows where these smells are coming from or exactly what the children and teachers have been exposed to. County records indicate that Navie J. Harris should have been built close to Flat Shoals Parkway, but County Corruption got in the way of progress.
“Failing sewer lines, off-gassing, and sewage spills have been polluting our community for over 30 years. On average we have documented at least 6 MILLION TO 13+ MILLION GALLONS of industrial waste - capable of causing disease and cancer - going through our community in defective and leaky sewer lines ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
DEKALB COUNTY HAS NOT SAID TO THIS DAY HOW MUCH TOXIC WASTE IS IN ALL THE REPORTED SEWER SPILLS!!!!!
We expect these numbers will range from 10 MILLION TO 20 MILLION GALLONS PER MONTH future years. ”
After appealing to local county commissioners and Federal Agencies, we got Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson to set up a meeting with Dekalb CEO Michael Thurmond to voice our concerns about issues in the neighborhood. His response after chuckling and laughing at us was “SUE ME. SUE ME!…THEN I CAN GO BACK AND TALK TO MY BOSSES.
We are still puzzled over this one.
“Sue me.”
— DeKalb County CEO, Micheal Thurmond’s response when confronted about our community’s problems including exposure to high levels of toxic waste
Photo credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While the level of corruption and lack of transparency in DeKalb County Government is well known, we have not been discouraged. Join us in our ongoing fight for EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW and for BASIC CIVIL RIGHTS to have safe communities and our tax dollars spent on things that can improve our neighborhoods and not line the pockets of politicians. As former DeKalb County Watershed Director Scott Towler said……..
SMELLING CORRUPTION DEMANDING SOLUTIONS