The state of

Georgia has adopted new regulations for reporting spills from publicly-owned

wastewater systems.

Any spill,

no matter how minor, must now be reported to the Georgia Environmental

Protection Division and local media outlets including radio and television

stations, said Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority General Manager

Larry Turner. Also, signs shall be placed at the site of the spill to

better notify citizens of the incident, Turner said.

Both the media

notices and signs should include information about the date and location

of the spill, what caused it, the estimated amount of the discharge, which

waterway it was spilled into and the corrective action taken to mitigate

or reduce the affects of the spill.

The signs are

required to be posted for seven consecutive days; the media notifications

are to take place within 24 hours after the spill is discovered.

The new regulations

also require wastewater operators to notify the health department of any

spills.

There are also

new regulations for reporting major spills, which include:

Publishing

a notice of the spill in the legal organ newspaper of the county; and

Notifying

each county, municipality and other public agency whose public water supply

is within 20 miles downstream and any others which could be affected by

the major spill. This might not affect WASA much since there aren't any

nearby cities on Line Creek which could be affected by spills, Turner

said.

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