Georgia EPD proposing addition of Lake Lanier to federal impaired waters list

Learn more about the water quality issues facing Lake Lanier.

The Georgia EPD issued a press release yesterday proposing the placement of Lake Lanier on the federal 'impaired" (303 (d)) waters' list because of repeated violations of water pollution standards. 

In three areas tested by the EPD between 2002 and 2003, excessive amounts of chlorophyll a were found in three out of five of the testing locations:  Browns Bridge, Lanier Bridge and Flowery Branch.  (Chlorophyll a shows an excess of phosphorous and nitrates in the water and can cause algae blooms). These excesses are based on standards developed in 2000 for Lake Lanier.

 If Lake Lanier is placed on this list, the EPA and the EPD will have to actively seek the source of the increased pollutant levels in these areas and attempt to rectify them.  The LLA has previously offered results of its Adopt A Lake water sampling to the EPD as our program now has several years' data. If Lanier is placed on the list, the EPD will also have to develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL's) which would define how much of a particular pollutant is allowed.  This will have an impact on the quality of wastewater discharges from any future plants permitted by the EPD.  As you know,  the LLA had a four year legal battle with Gwinnett County over the quality of their proposed wastewater discharge as the parameters for the effluent quality were not stringent enough. 

More information on this proposal is on the EPD's web site at http://www.gaepd.org/Documents/305b.html.  The EPD is requesting comments from the public on this proposed action.  In the next few days, we will be sending out an email with talking points for our members to write letters to the EPD on this subject.