Former Watershed Director Scot Towler resigned because as he put it “I have no choice but to resign this position… in response to my refusal to violate the law and participate in unlawful activities in the operation of DeKalb County Watershed Management, especially those in which are a violation of the County’s Consent Decree and Federal and State Environmental laws.”

Following the lead from these individuals several residents began connecting the dots as to why we had horrible smells in the community, 1,000s of vultures menaced the community and sewer spills were so common in the community. Navie J. Harris Elementary is infamous for the numerous strange smells within the building for over 30+ years and no one can explain what they are or where they come from.

The 1st toilet flush occurred when the residents discovered that 120+ acres of land adjacent to the South River and known as Chapel Hill Park was never improved as park space for the community and in fact had a high level of contaminated soil.

The 2nd toilet flush occurred when the residents recently learned that in the early 2000s subcontractors for DeKalb Watershed Management discovered that most of the sewer lines that ran adjacent to the South River in the community had failed. DeKalb County did not disclose this to the community and spent two weeks in the community 24/7 installing cheap liners in the sewer lines. The noise was non-stop and the floodlights kept people up at night.

The 3rd toilet flush occurred when the residents discovered through open records requests that more than 3 Billion Gallons of industrial/toxic waste had gone through the community over the past 30+ years in the Industrial Pre-Treatment Program. They also discovered that most of the companies that send this toxic waste through our sewer systems had no required permits prior to September 2016 and that DeKalb County had no effective management of the Industrial Pre-Treatment Program with a complete lack of oversight for at least 30+ years until Scott Towler whistleblowed this situation to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (4th toilet flush). In fact the Industrial Pre-Treatment Program was excluded by DeKalb County from the Federal Consent Decree and most of the failing sewer lines in South DeKalb County were not even prioritized in the Consent Decree (5th toilet flush). Not surprising, most of the Federal Consent Decree covers North DeKalb County and not South Dekalb County where most of the problems are (6th toilet flush).

In the 7th toilet flush, it became clear that DeKalb County had routinely not reported sewer spills, but also that they had not informed the residents or appropriate State and Federal authorities that most if not all of the major sewer spills contained significant amounts of industrial/toxic waste. Stuff that can kill people and stuff that causes cancer.

The residents filed a federal EPA complaint, two congressional complaints in the district, and met with the County Commissioners for Districts 3 (Larry Johnson) and 5 (Mereda Johnson). After getting no answers in these venues, the residents asked the District 7 Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson to setup a meeting to discuss all of the issues facing the community with DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.

The 8th toilet flush occurred on April 11,2019 when FOUR “Concerned Citizens” and Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson met with DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond at his office. The CEO displayed a lawyer-like gamesmanship and told the residents that they were totally misinformed about land use issues in the community and in fact that what the residents told him was exactly the opposite of what his staff (Legal Department and Planning Department) had told him. He quickly ended the meeting without the “Concerned Citizens” having a say in the matter by telling the residents that the best thing they could do was to “SUE ME”. Yes he said “SUE ME”…and maybe I can go back and talk to my bosses.

The residents filed a formal complaint with the DeKalb District Attorney’s office asking that the CEO Michael Thurmond, County Attorney Viviane H. Ernstes, and Director of Planning Andrew Baker, be investigated by the Anti-Corruption Unit. The citizens indicated that these parties had violated their public trust, and breached their oaths of office by committing various nonviolent misdemeanor and/or felony offenses against the citizens of DeKalb County. The complaint also alleged that these individuals used fraudulent business practices and a position of authority to deceive the citizens of DeKalb County.

The DA did not find evidence of a crime committed and did not fully review the credible evidence they presented. The residents discussed this situation with various attorneys that practice in DeKalb County and with a noted citizen who successfully sued the County all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court. These parties explained that DeKalb County government typically uses the legal system as a form of legal suppression towards the citizens of the county. No one was surprised at this action. They told the citizens to review certain court case transcripts to see this for themselves. This was the 9th toilet flush.

The 10th toilet flush came when the residents found out why thousands of vultures were menacing them in the community. They discovered that former CEO Vernon Jones’ plan to convert “Trash to Cash” was causing severe environmental issues in the community. The “Trash to Cash” process of making methane gas at Seminole Landfill put over 312,000+ metric tons of methane in the air in 2018. The turkey vultures in the community are experts at smelling methane from miles away, thinking that something is dying. These vultures and their Black Buzzard friends routinely menace residents and damage their property by thinking that the residents are giving off the high level of methane in the air. We as humans cannot smell methane. Methane causes increased breathing rates, loss of concentration, headaches, dizziness, nausea, loss of coordination, respiratory issues, and is extremely flammable and explosive. When we ask people in the community they just say that some animal is dead. However for the large number of vultures in the community this answer just does not add up.

The 11th toilet flush came when the citizens learned that one of the primary reasons for toxic sewer spills in the community was because of poor equipment maintenance and preventive maintenance by Watershed Management and flat out lies by DeKalb County (i.e. Rainwater Infiltration - INI) on their Sanitary Overflow Evaluation (SSO) Reports to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. In the Federal Consent Decree DeKalb County said that the primary reasons for the sewer spills was from FOG – fats, oils, grease. The real FOG was in their explanations and not in the sewer lines.

In the 1990s the Snapfinger Wastewater treatment plant was a top performer nationally and many wastewater employees across the nation came to see how it was done in South DeKalb prior to CEO Vernon Jones. Vernon Jones removed the most senior staff at the plant and pushed to purchase substandard equipment. Maintenance and capital improvements did not add up to the amount of money spent in Watershed. In fact millions of dollars have gone unaccounted for in the Watershed Department since Vernon Jones tenure with no tangible evidence of what was purchased.

The 12th toilet flush relates to the $300 million spent so far on the new wastewater treatment plant. The citizens learned that good capital maintenance and sound Standard Operational Procedures (SOPS) were the main remedies to sewer spill problems and that even if the new plant had more capacity the County was being deceptive about this. All of DeKalb County’s water comes from the Chattahoochee River and given the limited amount that is returned to this river after treatment, US Corps of Engineers will most likely not allow the county to increase capacity. All told, 13th toilet flush, when you add the lost fines and surcharges of the last 25+ years ($75 Million-conservatively), the constant fines for sewer spills that we citizens pay, the needless $300 Million sewer treatment plant expansion, and total mismanagement of repairing/replacing poor sewer lines in the county, all the Citizens of DeKalb County are on the hook conservatively for $500 Million.

So what did the South River really tell residents in our community?

About the REAL ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. 14th toilet flush.

THE REAL ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM IS THAT

• WE CANNOT GET EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW

• OUR OVERALL HEALTH HAS BEEN THREATENED

• ALL BECAUSE OF A CORRUPT SYSTEM THAT EXISTS IN DEKALB COUNTY GEORGIA