Nov. 7th, State EPD informed StarNews: “no observed sewage spill”
Videos taken November 28th show steady flow continuing out onto open ground

story by Sue Horn

Despite being informed by the_Georgia EPD that the longtime raw sewage spill out of the Carrollton Nursing and Rehabiliation facility had ceased, StarNews discovered through videos taken November 28th that the spill is continuing and ongoing. Raw sewage was videoed flowing freely out of old pipes, onto the open round behind the facility. See latest videos at www.starnewsgaonline.com.

The October 15, 2023 edition of StarNews, a front page story relating the 20+ year ongoing sewage spill from Carrollton Nursing and Rehabilitation (located at 2327 Highway 27, Carrollton) into Buck Creek – identified as a “Water of the State” – which flows into the Little Tallapoosa River – also a “Water of the State”. Five videos documenting the sewage spill were posted online at www.starnewsgaonline.com last October.

On November 7, 2023, Brian Boutelle, Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) Storm Water and Drinking Water employee, Georgia EPD, informed StarNews, “There was not an observed sewage spill during either of my visits in October.” This is an untrue statement. StarNews obtained videos taken November 28th that shows a steady flow of raw sewage water flowing freely out onto the property’s open ground.

According to Boutelle, the nursing home had provided EPD with a “Corrective Plan of Action” addressing this large environmental spill. The owner of the facility had been given 15 days (that began from the date of receipt of the violation letter which was mailed August 2, 2023) to submit an action plan outlining corrective measures to prevent – and in this case to also halt – unpermitted discharges of wastewater from the system. Boutelle said, “We have an active enforcement case at this facility to bring the site into compliance with the Rules.” Boutelle also said that GA EPD will provide oversight to this plan of action.

When questioned for details as to how this case was progressing, Boutelle responded: “Since it is an active case, our investigation results are not currently public record.”

For this active case of the blatent ongoing environmental spill at Carrollton Nursing and Rehabilitation, the November 28, 2023 StarNews videos are now the public record that this spill is continuing and that whatever the “plan” to outline “corrective measures” was, it has not been implemented; or is not progressing; or, is, at the least, insufficient.