The Cobb Commode Conundrum

Sam Burnham, Curator
@C_SamBurnham

Cobb, In Red, A Wealthy Metro County With A Commode Conundrum

As I’m looking over the reports of a major sewer failure in Cobb County, I can’t help but think of all the ramifications. With WSB reporting that everything being flushed in Cobb County is going straight into the Chattahoochee as raw sewage, let’s take a look.

​The county said drinking water is not affected by this spill. And I’m sure their drinking water isn’t. But the drinking water of people in counties in three states lies just downstream. The bacteria and unthinkable debris is being washed right on down into reservoirs and fisheries between Six Flags and Apalachicola, Florida.

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​When we face off against Alabama and Florida in the ongoing water wars, these are the things that give us a bad name. The inability of urban and suburban counties to handle their resource infrastructure is just one reason we oppose developments like Norfolk-Southern and Amazon. Metro Atlanta is gobbling up land and resources and literally bleeding filth - raw sewage, coal ash, air pollution, and refuse bound for landfills.

The river is home to fish that are good for food, as well as sport. Deer, turkey, and other game animals rely on the river for water. Thousands of acres of crops may be irrigated by this water. West Point, Oliver, Walter F. George, and Seminole are Lakes that lie in the path of this spill. The whitewater course in Columbus could feel an impact. The

But don't worry, Cobb County’s drinking water is safe.

When a sparsely populated and impoverished South Georgia county needs to close a voting precinct or two it becomes major national news. But now Cobb County, a shopping Mecca, home of the Braves, Six Flags, and Kennesaw State University just spills every gallon of feces and urine, all manner of used birth control contrivances, sanitary products, anything that might wind up in a sanitary sewer, in the major river of west Georgia, it’s all good.

Again, Cobb County’s drinking water is fine.

Georgia deserves better. The South deserves better. Cobb is putting the ‘filthy’ back into ‘filthy rich.’ We need to be demanding that counties and municipalities, especially the wealthy metro ones, do what it necessary to protect our natural resources from filth, refuse, pollution, and ruin.