King America Finishing, Inc., a textiles treatment plant near Dover in Screven County, has 60 days in which to respond to complaints by the Ogeechee Riverkeeper organization regarding allegations the plant is violating the law by dumping chemicals into the Ogeechee River.
    If they do not respond and reach an agreement to cease the alleged illegal dumping, then Ogeechee Riverkeeper Dianna Wedincamp said her organization will file suit against the company.
    The action follows a massive fish kill in May she said was caused by chemicals poured into the river through the plant’s outfall pipe, six miles north of the U.S. 301 North bridge.
    The “Ogeechee Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and preserve the Ogeechee, Canoochee, and coastal rivers,” Wedincamp said in a news release Wednesday. “Ensuring these rivers are free from pollution is Ogeechee Riverkeeper’s top priority.”
    The “60-Day Notice of Violations and Intent to File Citizen Suit” was filed under Section 505 of the Clean Water Act, she said.
    “King America Finishing, Inc. is in violation of the Clean Water Act as a result of the ongoing unpermitted discharges from its textile facility, which is operating under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit number GA0003280,” she said in the statement, which alleges the plant “is discharging color, ammonia and formaldehyde in violation of its permit and Georgia water quality standards.”
    The plant is being investigated by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), but officials will not comment on the investigation since it is ongoing.
    The discharges are also in violation of state water quality and numeric permit limits for pH, Wedincamp said. Tests conducted by she and concerned citizens have proven the water samples taken south of the plant in May and June exceeded the legal pH level.
    “Georgia’s state water quality standards require “all waters shall be free from material related to municipal, industrial or other discharges which produce turbidity, color, odor or other objectionable conditions which interfere with legitimate water uses,’” she said.
    King America’s permit, a copy of which Wedincamp provided to the Statesboro Herald, specifically states that the plant “may not discharge toxic pollutants in concentrations or combinations that are harmful to humans, animals, or aquatic life.”
    The Ogeechee Riverkeeper “stepped up its monitoring and testing of water and sediment in the river” after the fish kill that left over 36,000 fish rotting along the river. The fish died of columnaris, a bacterial disease caused by environmental stress, which Wedincamp says was caused by the toxic waste discharged.
    “Those tests revealed elevated levels of multiple pollutants at and downstream from King America Finishing’s discharge pipe.”
    Through the notice of violation, Ogeechee Riverkeeper demands the plant cease violations of its permit. Wedincamp said complaints to state agencies that monitor the plant have been unproductive.
    ”We’ve received complaints from citizens about this site going back to 2002. Unfortunately, repeated complaints to state and federal agencies have failed to adequately address the problems with this discharge,” she said. “By bringing this litigation, which will be costly and time-consuming for our organization, we hope to prevent King America Finishing Inc. from causing future harm to the Ogeechee River.”
    She and other citizens, including one of three men who are involved in a class action suit against the plant regarding alleged river pollution issues, visited the plant’s discharge pipe July 16 and found dark blue-black liquid being pumped into the river. Water sample tests results from that day have not yet been returned, she said.
    Should King America CEO Mike Beasley not respond to the notice of violation and agree to cease the discharge as it is, Wedincamp said the Ogeechee Riverkeeper attorneys will file suit.
    Beasley was not immediately able to be reached Thursday.
   
    Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.