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Atlanta Looks For Solutions To Buckhead Park Sewage Spills

March 10th, 2016

Courtesy of Atlanta Memorial Park Conservancy

People who live near a Buckhead park that tends to flood with sewage are asking for solutions. The mayor toured the park earlier this week, but a real fix could still be a long way off.

Neighbors of Atlanta Memorial Park describe water shooting out of manhole covers during a winter flood, and say the stream bank is heavily eroded.

The Department of Watershed Management says it has plans that would partially address the issues, but a real solution will be expensive, and possibly years away.

Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong, who chairs the City Utilities Committee, said people in other neighborhoods are worried about similar issues, which go back to how the city handles rain.

“We have to do better with managing that storm water that goes into the system and then gets into our creeks and our waterways,” she said.

Even just dealing with the Memorial Park problems calls for a more holistic approach, according to Craig Pendergrast, who lives near the park and is an environmental attorney.

“Memorial Park is located fairly far down the Peachtree Creek Watershed,” he said. “The problems it’s facing are the result of causes upstream. And upstream includes Midtown, Downtown, Dekalb County, the interstates, the Georgia Tech campus.”

The city is in the process of a multi-billion dollar, federally-mandated sewer overhaul. Earlier this month, Atlanta residents voted on a one-cent sales tax to continue funding that work.