COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — What started as routine, weekly water monitoring in the Roaring Branch Creek in Columbus now has the attention of Columbus Consolidated Government officials, the Chattahoochee Riverkeepers (CRK) and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
On Monday afternoon, Columbus residents were informed via social media that a volunteer with the CRK weekly water monitoring program detected a strong odor of gasoline and an oil-like sheen on the device used to collect water samples.
“He immediately reported it to us, and we went out the next day to investigate,” Chattahoochee Riverkeepers Technical Programs Specialist Ashley Desensi said. “We contacted the emergency response hotline, which then pulls in EPD and then we contacted the City of Columbus as well.”…