Family horrified by water quality test results on Whitfield County property

The Fletcher children playing in the creek on their property, now known to contain an unsafe amount of the PFAS chemical. (Courtesy: Amber Fletcher)

DALTON, Ga. (WDEF)- For months, famed activist Erin Brockovich and environmental group PFAS Georgia have been sounding the alarms about the presence of forever chemicals in Northwest Georgia.

Now, water quality tests illustrate the dire situation.

LeRoy and Amber Fletcher have raised six children on their Whitfield County farm since 2011.

They plan to eventually give that farm to their children.

However, alarming results from a recent water quality test are giving them pause.

Mr. Fletcher said, “This creek has been a part of our life since 2011, so I mean, we’re just devastated to know that this thing is contaminated, and this is where we’ve hung out with our kids and played in the creek.”

Those warm summer memories with their family now give the Fletcher family nightmares.

“We were shocked to find out the levels were so high,” said Mrs. Fletcher.

Tests conducted by water quality expert Bob Bowcock showed an unsettling reality for the Fletchers.

The amount of PFAS in their creek came out to be over 7,600 parts per trillion.

The amount of the chemical that is deemed safe by the federal government is just 4 parts per trillion, over 2,000 times the acceptable amount.

Bowcock explained, “Unlike other contaminants in our environment that our bodies have a tendency to be able to handle and take care of, the PFAS actually stay in our bodies, females anywhere from six to ten years and males 8 to 12 years, it actually accumulates and accumulates and is doing all kinds of horrific harm such as coating the endocrine system or affecting our reproductive health.

PFAS Georgia invited us as they conducted one of numerous tests back in September.

They released the results of those tests that showed ¾’s of all properties they surveyed had an unsafe amount of forever chemicals.

They say these chemicals are present as a byproduct of the carpet industry and unsafe disposal of PFAS, which has led to a lot of ongoing litigation.

Most recently, Mohawk Industries has filed suit against 3M, after multiple carpet manufacturers have been the target of separate lawsuits.

Brockovich said, “I feel that Mohawk maybe thought we were going to be their enemy here, but they have also realized that they too were a target of this scam.”

For the Fletchers, they don’t know what their future will hold.

Mrs. Fletcher said, “We won’t let our animals in the creek, we won’t let our kids come back down here, now we’ve been discussing not growing a garden because of it.”

“Making a lot of changes to our lives, even to the point of moving,” said Mr. Fletcher. 

There will be a town hall Wednesday night at Dalton’s Elk Lodge for citizens to voice their concerns at 6 p.m.