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Attorney: King not discharging pink
EPD says plant's holding pond does not empty into Ogeechee
W ogeechee river lead
King America Finishing is not discharging pink-tinted water into the Ogeechee River, nor has it violated its discharge permits, a spokesman for the Screven County textiles plant said Friday.But Ogeechee Riverkeeper Dianna Wedincamp said Thursday that she received four complaints last week from residents who claimed they saw pinkish-red coloration in the water downriver from the plant.An aerial photo of King America Finishing, provided by Wedincamp, shows a holding pond containing pink liquid. Attorney Lee Lehihns III, King America spokesman, said Friday there has been “no pinkish effluent coming from our facility.”Environmental Protection Division spokesman Kevin Chambers said Friday the textiles plant has a holding pond, a “sludge pond,” that was shown in photographs as having pinkish water in it. However, that holding pond does not release into the river, he said.Wedincamp said Friday that her organization received complaints about either pink, red or “rust-colored water in the river” and the reports came from people who said the discoloration was seen “scattered down the river basin” in several locations.A 3-foot-long catfish was found dead in Effingham County on Wednesday, and Effingham County Emergency Management Agency Director Ed Myrick closed river landings, issuing an advisory against swimming and eating fish from the river, stating the catfish appeared to have died from columnaris.
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