Since taking office, President Donald Trump has taken aim at a host of environmental laws aimed at protecting our rivers and the public’s health. The National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and Obama Administration rules on the handling of toxic coal ash waste have all been targeted. At this point, most of the changes are only proposed, but the climate in Washington is creating uncertainty for Georgia’s environmental police as well as those businesses, industries and others who…
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) in June fined Gold Creek Foods in Dawsonville $9,000 for a March spill of ferric chloride that resulted in a complete kill of aquatic life along a 3.7 mile stretch of Flat Creek. According to EPD documents, the spill killed an estimated 8,262 fish, including federally threatened Cherokee darters. In addition to the $9000 fine, EPD is requiring the company to clean up soil at the facility contaminated by ferric chloride, improve its stormwater pollution…
A federal court ruling in October 2017 now has the ball rolling again in the battle between Alabama and Georgia over the use of water in Lake Allatoona and the rest of the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river system. That ruling is forcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to act on a Cobb County Marietta Water Authority (CCMWA) request made originally in 1981 to allocate more water from Allatoona for water supplies in Metro Atlanta. Since 1963, the Corps, which manages…
The Georgia General Assembly ended the 2018 legislative session on March 29. Now, a month out from Sine Die, we can take a look back on what went right of our rivers and streams and what went wrong. First, the Good: Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act Passes! The Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Act (GOSA) passed meaning that this November, Georgia voters will decide a constitutional amendment that would take a portion of the sale tax we already pay when we purchase, hunting,…
On April 19, CRBI celebrated Earth Week by recognizing five entities accomplishing extraordinary work to protect natural resources in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Among those recognized were Paragon Wool Products of Calhoun, the Georgia Alabama Land Trust, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rome and Dalton, Forsyth County Parks & Recreation and the Chatsworth Water Works Commission. Each year CRBI recognizes outstanding achievement in water conservation, outdoor recreation, sustainability, land protection and innovation through its G reenie Awards. Winners…
CRBI TO RECOGNIZE GREENIE AWARD WINNERS APRIL 19 DURING EARTH WEEK CELEBRATION A Calhoun-based textile business, a Piedmont, Alabama land protection organization, Boys and Girls Clubs in Dalton and Rome, the Chatsworth Water Works Commission and Forsyth County will be recognized April 19 with the Coosa River Basin Initiative’s (CRBI) Greenie Awards for their outstanding efforts to protect natural resources in the upper Coosa River basin. The Greenie Awards will be presented at the Dark Side of the Moon event…
