The Chattahoochee River is reeling from what environmental advocates are calling the worst fish kill they've ever seen. Thousands of dead fish have washed up along at least 20 miles of the river, and multiple agencies are now investigating what went wrong.
Jason Ulseth, executive director of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, says the disaster resulted from a combination of drought conditions, polluted stormwater runoff, and sewage overflows during Wednesday's heavy storms.
"All of these combined factors just made for the perfect storm and caused the massive fish kill on the Chattahoochee," Ulseth told reporters. "I've been on the river my entire life. I've never seen a fish kill this massive."
The fish kill was first reported Friday, starting at Peachtree Creek in northwest Atlanta. Warm, polluted stormwater combined with treated and untreated sewage gushed into the creek, then into the river, which had been running unusually low due to the drought.
Ulseth explained that it wasn't the toxicity but the temperature that killed the fish. Warm water holds less oxygen, causing fish to suffocate. Wastewater from treatment plants also typically has low oxygen levels.
The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management confirmed that local and state officials have launched an investigation. "Protecting the health of our waterways and the communities that depend on them remains one of our highest priorities," Commissioner Greg Eyerly said.
Ulseth also found black muck along the riverbanks for several miles downstream of Peachtree Creek, likely from Atlanta's West Area Tunnel, which stores raw sewage and stormwater runoff during heavy rains.
