The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is investigating a fish kill in Taliaferro County, which some say is likely the result of a chicken sludge spill.
The site of the spill, a former hog farm which is now a site for disposing of industrial agricultural waste, had previously been fined by the EPD for violating the Erosion and Sedimentation Act.
Georgia EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips said more details would be available when the agency finishes its investigation.
In December 2023, the EPD fined the owner of the site, Ag Green USA, LLC, $5,000 and ordered the company to clearly mark buffer areas surrounding tributaries that flow into the North Prong of the Williams Creek and “ensure no application of soil amendment shall occur within such buffer areas.”
The location is southeast of Crawfordville, near I-20.
Savannah Riverkeeper executive director Tonya Bonitatibus said the property has had a number of interactions with state regulatory agencies, and that neighbors have long complained about the smell and pollution from the animal sludge that gets dumped there.
“This is an old hog farm that has a couple of ponds/lagoons full of waste,” Bonitatibus said. “The company brings in many 18-wheelers a week full of animal remnants from animal processing and dairy facilities. So, spent milk, eggs, pieces of chicken that are emulsified and applied to the property.”
Sludge is considered a soil amendment by the state and spread on fields. Proponents say this kind of industrial waste from animal processing can help improve soil health while preventing the material from being disposed of in landfills or by incineration.
Across rural Georgia, including in Oglethorpe County, however, the practice has drawn significant criticism from opponents who call the smell “sickening.” The county passed a sludge ordinance in 2023 that put restrictions on sludge application.
“It’s a big topic. It’s been a problem for decades now,” said Jay Paul, chairman of the Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners. “It amazes me that we can travel in space and go to the moon, but we can’t find a better solution for this industrial waste other than putting it on a truck and bringing it over and dumping it out.”
Alex Perri is a master’s student in journalism at the University of Georgia. She previously worked at the Transylvania Times in Brevard, North Carolina.