Suit filed in federal court after Summerville water crisis
A former city council member in Summerville, Georgia, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Trion, Mount Vernon Mills and others in response to a water crisis that forced the city of Summerville to hand out bottles of water for weeks and still could cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
Earl Parris, a council member for two years in the 1990s and again for four years ending in 2020, is suing for $5 million in damages. He wants the people responsible for the contaminated water to pay the price of a long-term solution.
Parris’ lawsuit alleges the town of Trion’s Water Pollution Control Plant disposed of sludge and biosolids in Raccoon Creek, which is the main water source for Summerville’s water. It also alleges Mount Vernon Mills has discharged harmful chemicals into Trion’s plant that then entered Summerville’s water source.
The suit also names 3M, Daikin America, Huntsman International and Pulcra Chemicals, whose products are used at Mount Vernon Mills to “provide stain resistance and water resistance to its fabrics,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Environmental attorney Gary Davis is representing Parris.
“As a taxpayer and water customer in Summerville, it’s not our responsibility and not our fault the water’s contaminated,” Parris said. “Somebody’s at fault here. Nobody wants to take the blame, of course not.”
Summerville Mayor Harry Harvey and City Administrator Janice Galloway did not return phone calls for comment. A call and voicemail to Mount Vernon’s office in Trion was not returned Tuesday, and Trion city officials were not available for comment.
Parris is using the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for the basis of his lawsuit. He mentioned several similar lawsuits against companies such as Dupont as inspirations to having companies be on the hook in such cases instead of residents.
“This whole lawsuit is in hopes that the city of Summerville gets a new reverse osmosis plant,” Parris said. “That is the only type of plant that will remove” the chemicals.
How it started
In January 2020, city officials were notified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that water from Raccoon Creek showed high levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid.
Those human-made chemicals are used to make carpet, clothing fabric, cookware, paper, food packaging and other materials. The city has said the levels of both chemicals in its water supply have not increased, but the EPA standards for PFOS and PFOA changed in 2016.
The plan to lower the levels is to have a new well that could provide enough drinkable water to dilute and mix with the water from the Raccoon Creek treatment plant so the levels of the two contaminants are lowered.
Eventually, a second well would be drilled to completely phase out the Raccoon Creek facility.
Early estimations for the project and a long-term solution were between $1 million and $1.2 million. Now that number is closer to $3 million.
The water has been safe for most people to drink for months. The health advisory was mainly aimed at more vulnerable populations such as infants and pregnant women, according to the EPA.
In September, the city of Summerville told its residents it was making progress on its contaminated water supply after traces of a synthetic chemical were found in the water, with concerned citizens advocating for a transparent and effective plan to ensure everyone has clean drinking water.
An advocacy group made up of residents of Chattooga County was created as a way for people in Summerville and the surrounding area to stay on top of the water issues and to make sure local officials know that people are paying attention and are still worried about the process of getting the water to acceptable drinking levels.
Over the summer, city officials found that a test-well site on Highway 48 will be able to supply the amount of water needed to dilute the current supply and provide drinking water that will meet government standards.
The goal for diluting the water is to have the threshold for the chemicals fall below 70 parts per trillion, which is the state standard. Sarah Sprayberry, one of the local activists, wondered if that method went far enough to ensure people in Chattooga County will have clean and safe water to drink.
Parris also doesn’t believe blending the water with cleaner water is a sufficient answer to the problem. And he doesn’t believe in asking for a federal government loan because that would still be “the people’s money,” he said.
“We trust our city leaders, we believe in them,” Parris said. “We vote for them to do the right thing and the right thing wasn’t happening. What they’re doing right now is nothing more than a Band-aid.”
Somebody’s at fault here. Nobody wants to take the blame, of course not.”
Earl Parris
Istood still, looking at the tree laying across the creek. It was about 3 feet above the water. I remember the cousin that was with me said, “Come on, you can walk the log.”
I have had a slight fear of high places ever since I was a kid. I have worked at construction, climbed ladders and walked steel that was put in the top of buildings, and I still have a fear of high places. But I said a fear, not that I wouldn’t climb with the best of them.
Let’s go back and see what got me into this situation at the log. Where the federal building is now, there used to be a forest with a small creek running through it. It ran into the river, down where the railroad trestle is.
The water had been up and there were deep holes of water in the creek. We had fished in all the holes. Not catching anything, Junior decided that we would go to the mouth of the creek where it went into the river. When we came to the place where the tree lay across the creek, Junior went first to make sure that the tree would hold our weight.
I remember him saying, “Come on, Lonie. It will not break.” I stood still, not saying anything. Just shaking my head. Junior put down his fishing pole and came back to me. “What is the matter? You have walked that tree before.” I finally got one word out of my mouth. “Snake.”
Junior looked to where I had pointed. There, on a limb that he had held onto to cross the creek, was a big snake. This was a huge snake. It looked to be a good six feet long. It lay to where, when Junior had held onto the limb, he had his hand within a few inches of its head.
I heard a funny sound and turned to see Junior fall to the ground. I sat down beside him, not realizing that he had fainted. I must have sat there a good 10 minutes before he made a sound. He sat up and, looking real funny, made me promise not to tell anyone what had happened. As small as I was, I didn’t know what had happened. I thought he had got tired and lay down to rest.
As we stood there Junior realized we had a problem. He had put our rods and reels, along with the bait, on the end of the tree. I looked at the snake and knew that I was not going to get them. We sat down on the ground and watched the snake. He was sunning himself and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.
The rods and reels belonged to Junior, and if it had been up to me we would leave them there for the snake to fish with. I could see that Junior was not going to leave his fishing equipment.
Junior sat looking at the snake on the tree limb. I got up and went up a trail that led to the railroad. Once on the track, I began a search for some rocks. Putting some in my pocket and carrying one in each hand, I went back to where Junior sat. Now I have always been good at hitting what I threw a rock at. As small as I was then, I had found that a rock can be a good weapon. Junior sat still staring at the snake. He seemed to be in a trance.
I moved in to what I thought was a good position and let go with a rock. The rock hit the snake in the head. He moved, raising his head up about a foot high off the tree. I let another rock go. Wham on the head again. This seem to irritate him. He rolled into a ball with his head up and looking around. I had two more rocks left and I knew that I had to make them good.
I had picked up a rock that had a sharp edge to it. I walked in as close as I dared. His head was sticking up. I let go with the rock. Then, to my surprise, he rolled up into a ball and fell in to the water. He was rolling around in the water. I let go with the other rock. I hit him. But where, I have no idea. I watched as he rolled and moved around in the creek. He went out into the river.
I watched as he went out of sight. I looked at Junior. He was still as white as a piece of cotton. I ran across the log and picked up the rods and reels along with the bait. Junior looked at me and said, “I think I have had enough fishing for one day.” Picking up the rods and reels, pouring out the bait, we headed up to the railroad tracks. Neither one of us had any desire to meet up with another snake that day.