"Major spill" notices by DeKalb County Watershed Management indicate that millions of gallons of sewage went into rivers and creeks during the first half of January.
The department blamed the spills on January 3 and 4 on "rainwater." About 2 1/2 inches of rain fell at the Atlanta airport on those two days. A total of 8.48 inches of rain fell at Peachtree-DeKalb airport in January, almost twice the normal amount of 4.57 inches.
Here is a list of "major spills" reported by DeKalb County during the first half of January:
1615 Melanie Ct., Decatur - 462,557 gallons of wastewater spilled into Shoal Creek on Jan. 3.
2089 Garden Circle, Decatur - 16,800 gallons spilled into Doolittle Creek on Jan. 3.
3549 Panthersville Rd., Decatur - 299,996 gallons spilled into the South River on Jan. 4.
2480 Miriam Lane, Decatur - 22,181 gallons spilled into Shoal Creek on Jan. 4.
3230 Boring Rd., Decatur - 177,025 gallons into Shoal Creek on Jan. 4.
3075 Thrasher Cir., Decatur - 145,125 gallons into a Shoal Creek tributary on Jan. 4.
2359 Harrington Dr., Decatur - 30,000 gallons into a South Fork Peachtree Creek tributary on Jan 4.
3433 Brookfield Lane, Decatur - 38,250 gallons into Cobbs Creek on Jan. 4.
3391 Warbler Dr., Decatur - 229,500 gallons into Cobbs Creek on Jan. 4.
3449 Brookfield Lane, Decatur - 19,890 gallons into Cobbs Creek on Jan. 4.
1416 Cobb Branch Dr., Decatur - 39,375 gallons into Cobbs Creek on Jan. 4.
148 Desmond Dr., Decatur - 90,000 gallons into South Fork Peachtree Creek on Jan. 4.
1948 E. Starmount Way, Decatur - 15,000 gallons into a Doolittle Creek tributary on Jan. 4.
4496 Newcastle Circle, Stonecrest - 14,790 gallons of wastewater spilled into a Snapfinger Creek tributary on Jan. 4.
4557 Meadow Creek Path, Stonecrest - 1,182,750 gallons of sewage spilled into Shoal Creek on Jan. 4.
3924 Roman Ct., Tucker - 12,750 gallons into a South Fork Peachtree Creek tributary on Jan. 4.
1707 Childerlee Lane, Atlanta - 25,000 gallons into a North Fork Peachtree Creek tributary on Jan. 4.
Later in January:
1729 Wilmont Dr., Atlanta - 22,880 gallons of wastewater spilled into a North Fork Peachtree Creek tributary on Jan. 10 because of "a structural issue causing the creek crossing to spill into the tributary."
2157 Tucker Industrial Rd., Tucker - 17,550 gallons into a Camp Creek tributary on Jan. 15 because of a broken 8-inch sewer main.
DeKalb County has been under a federal consent decree since 2011, after the federal government found the county's repeated wastewater spills violated the Clean Water Act.
"The absence of a requirement in the 2010 DeKalb County consent decree to fix the sewer system in 'non-priority' areas, mainly south DeKalb County, increases the likelihood that spills will continue," South River Watershed Alliance board president Jacqueline Echols said in a December letter to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
