3 years later, many residents in Summerville, Georgia still choose not to drink tap water.
And in a week where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed limiting the amount of harmful "forever chemicals" in drinking water to the lowest level that tests can detect, city leaders in Summerville continue to move forward with a federal lawsuit against companies who city leaders say polluted their water system with those forever chemicals.
Summerville joined the lawsuit filed by Earl Parris, Jr. in 2021, a few months after it was filed. (Read the full lawsuit below).
The suit claims chemicals made by 6 different companies are used by Mount Vernon Mills to make their products stain resistant and water-proof.
It says Mount Vernon Mills negligently discharged waste and sludge into the Raccoon Creek, which is a primary provider of drinking water for Summerville.
Mount Vernon's wastewater then travels to the nearby Trion Water Treatment plant.
The lawsuit says the sludge that is left over from the Trion plant has high levels of chemicals known as PFAS and is disposed of throughout north Georgia and northern Alabama.
The city of Summerville claims it's that disposal process that seeps the chemicals into the Raccoon Creek watershed where Summerville gets their drinking water.
The city blames the companies that made the chemicals for not warning Mount Vernon about their dangers.
They want them to pay for a permanent fix to the Summerville water treatment plant to remove all those forever chemicals.
In response, the chemical companies say because they didn't have any control over how the waste was disposed of, they shouldn't be held responsible.
We reached out to the City of Trion for comment. In an email response, city officials told us
The Town of Trion entered into a consent agreement with the EPA and EPD and stopped the use of agricultural application of sludge from the Wastewater Treatment Plant prior to the filing of this suit.
Summerville Mayor Harry Harvey says they are prepared for their water to meet the EPA regulation, but are still waiting to receive a specific time frame.
"We'll do everything that we can to be sure that we are in compliance and we'll work with whoever we need to in order to do that," says Harvey.
Read the full lawsuit below:
Depend on us to keep you posted.
EARLIER COVERAGE:
- Federal lawsuit claims textile mill, city of Trion bear blame for Summerville water crisis
- No long-term fix for Summerville's water system crisis, city officials tell residents
- Summerville residents question if they can drink their water after health advisory lifted
- City of Summerville says EPA has lifted health advisory for city's water customers