{"id":665860,"date":"2026-05-26T10:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/665860\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:43:28","slug":"thousands-of-fish-found-dead-in-chattahoochee-river-amid-stormwater-and-sewer-overflows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/665860\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of fish found dead in Chattahoochee River amid stormwater and sewer overflows"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA, Ga. \u2014 Conservationists are searching for answers after they say thousands of fish were found dead along a stretch of the Chattahoochee River downstream of Peachtree Creek in Georgia, raising new concerns about stormwater pollution and sewage overflows.<\/p>\n

The massive fish kill was first discovered Friday by Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy organization that says a combination of extreme weather and infrastructure failures likely triggered the event. <\/p>\n

According to a statement released by Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, the metro Atlanta region has been experiencing drought conditions for months, leaving streams and the Chattahoochee River at near-historic low flow levels.<\/p>\n

Then, on May 20, a sudden burst of heavy rain–about three inches in one hour according to CNN<\/a>–sent polluted stormwater rushing into Peachtree Creek and eventually into the Chattahoochee River.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Photo by Chattahoochee Riverkeeper<\/p>\n

Riverkeeper officials say the unusually low river flow, combined with warm runoff carrying pollutants and nutrients from paved surfaces, created dangerous conditions for aquatic life.<\/p>\n

The group also says untreated sewage may have contributed to the disaster.<\/p>\n

According to the organization\u2019s preliminary investigation, Atlanta\u2019s combined sewer system and the city\u2019s West Area Tunnel overflowed into Peachtree Creek during the storm. <\/p>\n

Their release states that untreated water mixed with polluted runoff before entering the Chattahoochee River, while the West Area Tunnel treatment system also discharged into the river.<\/p>\n

At least one heavily impacted area was located downstream of Peachtree Creek, though Chattahoochee Riverkeeper says the fish kill did not affect the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.<\/p>\n

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Environmental Protection Division and Atlanta\u2019s Department of Watershed Management all told CNN<\/a> they are reviewing the incident.<\/p>\n

Chattahoochee Riverkeeper says their investigation into the fish kill is also ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA, Ga. \u2014 Conservationists are searching for answers after they say thousands of fish were found dead along…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-665860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}