Georgia textile maker to stop using ‘forever chemicals’ – The Atlanta Journal Constitution

According to the complaint, Mount Vernon Mills sends more than 3 million gallons of industrial wastewater to the Trion water facility daily, accounting for 94% of all wastewater the plant receives.

The plaintiffs claim Trions water treatment facility has the capacity to remove and treat domestic waste, but not forever chemicals. As a result, the water treatment plant has been continuously discharging PFAS-laden wastewater directly into the Chattooga River for years, in violation of its state-issued permit and the federal Clean Water Act. Concerns about those discharges have impaired the use and enjoyment of the waters downstream, the lawsuit said.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Trions wastewater treatment plant should have required the textile mill to modernize its treatment technology to remove PFAS prior to discharging them to Trions public treatment works, said Chris Bowers, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), which represented the CBRI in the case.

The settlement the parties agreed to calls for Mount Vernon Mills to halt the use of PFAS at its facility by the end of this year. In the meantime, the defendants agreed to truck the plants contaminated wastewater offsite to be incinerated and to conduct regular PFAS sampling of Mount Vernon Mills wastewater before its sent to the citys treatment plant.

Mount Vernon Mills and the city of Trion also agreed to pay $5,000 in civil penalties to the U.S. Treasury. Neither of the defendants responded immediately to a request for comment.

Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, the executive director of the CBRI, said in a statement that he was pleased with the resolution.

Ending use of PFAS in textile production at this facility is an important step to finally dealing with ongoing contamination in our region and should serve as an example to others that there are alternatives to using these chemicals in manufacturing in the first place, he said.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Several other major cases involving PFAS pollution in Georgia remain unresolved. Many of those also concern pollution in the Northwest corner of the state, where Georgias vast carpet and flooring industry is located and where PFAS have been used for decades.

In two separate lawsuits, the city of Rome and a resident claim that the wastewater treatment methods used by Dalton Utilities the city of Daltons provider of electricity, gas, water and wastewater services do not remove PFAS chemicals. They allege that a vast sprinkler system the utility uses to spray treated wastewater on the land has fouled rivers that supply drinking water to Rome and other cities downstream.

To remove PFAS from its drinking water, the city of Rome is building a new, $100 million water treatment plant and has raised residents water bills to cover the cost. Rome is seeking to hold Dalton Utilities, plus several chemical and flooring manufacturers, responsible for paying for the plant, plus other damages.

The citys case is set to go to trial in less than a month, on June 5. The other case, filed by Rome resident Jarrod Johnson, is seeking class-action certification with other Rome water customers. The U.S. District Court overseeing the case, which is also in Georgias Northern District, has not ruled on that request.

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Georgia textile maker to stop using 'forever chemicals' - The Atlanta Journal Constitution