Griffin plans $100K investment on water sensors after jet fuel spill

The City of Griffin plans to invest $100,000 on new water contamination detection equipment following a fuel spill at the Atlanta airport.

Following a fuel spill at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that dumped around 10,000 gallons of jet fuel into the Flint River, the City of Griffin immediately shut off its water intake from the river, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The city relies on the Flint River for its water consumption. Despite toxin reports coming back negative, the city received several complaints about an odor coming from the water.

The city’s Director of Water and Wastewater Brandon Lewis told the AJC that he and his team smelled the odor too.

“I smelled it myself, and then I was a believer,” he said.

They decided to test for another agent, propylene glycol, which when paired with chlorine emits an odor. Propylene glycol is a deicing agent, but it has also been used as an additive in food and beverage products. The Food and Drug Administration considers the agent safe for consumption.

Still, the city flushed millions of gallons of water through its system to purge the smell and plans to enhance its detection capabilities. This way they can shut down its intake from the Flint River at the first sign of an incident.

City Manager Jessica O’Connor told the AJC that they are discussing the situation with their lawyers to determine if compensation for the investment is in order due to the consequences of the spill.

“You can’t change your location. And we actually almost always tout our location,” she said. “While we can be a sleepy little town right outside of Atlanta … we can get wherever we want to go because we have Hartsfield-Jackson. With that comes challenges at times.”