DeKalb fined $294,000 for sewage spills

ATLANTA (AP) – DeKalb County has been fined $294,000 for spilling sewage into public waterways and underreporting the number of spills to environmental regulators.

Atlanta media  reports the fines were levied this week.

The largest part of the fine, $147,500, is a punishment for the county’s failure to report all of its sewage spills from 2012 to 2016.

When DeKalb officials discovered the problem last year, they fired an employee and sought to correct the record. DeKalb CEO Mike Thurmond said in a statement the fine is an “amicable resolution.”

A letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division acknowledged the county’s efforts to correct the problem.

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