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Ogeechee River, Georgia coast on list of imperiled places
Ogeechee river
Ogeechee Riverkeeper Dianna Weddincamp investigates discharge from King America Finishing plant discharge pipe on the Ogeechee River in July 2011. - photo by Photo courtesy of Statesboro Herald

The Georgia Water Coalition on Tuesday released its 2021 “Dirty Dozen” report, which it says lists “twelve of the worst offenses to Georgia’s waters.”

Included in the report are Ogeechee River, due to the state Environmental Protection Division’s “three-year delay in updating” permits the groups say is allowing Milliken to continue to discharge chemicals into the Ogeechee from a plant in Screven County.

The plant, once operated by King America Finishing, was reportedly responsible in 2011 for the largest recorded fish kill in the Ogeechee’s history.

Also making the Dirty Dozen is St. Simon Sound, due to the Golden Ray disaster; Brunswick, due to ongoing issues coming from the Hercules Superfund landfill site; and the entire Georgia coast, which “is one of the most vulnerable and least prepared states when it comes to dealing with effects of climate change.”

The GWC is made up of more than 285 conservation and environmental organizations. While not a list of the most polluted waterways in the state, the list instead “highlights the politics, policies and issues that threaten the health of Georgia’s waters.”

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