Waiting for dead fish to float by was not the recreational activity property owners had in mind when they bought land along the Ogeechee River.
But many of the people who own homes or weekend getaways on the waterway say cool dips and freshly caught dinners are no longer an option due to King America Finishing’s continued discharge of chemicals upstream.
As a result, property owners are appealing the tax assessed values of their land because they say it has lost the qualities that attracted them to it in the first place.
SLIDESHOW: Click here to view photos of Savannah's 30 highest-dollar residential properties
In Bulloch County, the values of 26 parcels have been appealed because of the textile processing plant’s operations, according to the Bulloch assessors office.
One of those property owners, Tommy Pope, who has lived by the river for 27 years, said he no longer feels comfortable swimming or fishing in it after about 38,000 fish died downriver from the plant last year. The state’s recent issue of a wastewater discharge permit to the Screven County facility added to his frustration.
“They’ve taken away the main reason I bought the property,” Pope said.
A probe by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division didn’t tie the fish kill directly to the plant but found it had been discharging wastewater through a fire retardant line without a permit for five years. Two weeks ago, the EPD issued a discharge permit that allows King America to discharge — among other substances — formaldehyde, chromium and ammonia.
Bryan County resident Wayne Carney said the permitted discharge turns his property along the river into a “chemical dump.” Carney and at least nine other area property owners plan to appeal their property’s assessed value, he said.
“All I can do with that right now is go down and mow the grass,” he said. “I can’t even jump in the water after to cool off.”
King America’s attorney, Lee DeHihns III, said a number of property owners have sued the company. Many of the claims of those appealing the property’s value are similar to accusations the company is disputing in court, DeHihns said.
“We have fervently disagreed with the allegations in those cases,” he said.
EPD spokesman Kevin Chambers said the agency does not have a comment on the property tax issue, but referred inquiries to a press release about the discharge permit. A number of “stringent requirements” were included in the permit to protect human health and safety and aquatic life, according to the statement.
John Scott, chief tax appraiser for Bulloch, said they are studying the situation by closely reviewing any sales activity. When Scott worked as a chief appraiser in Stephens County in the late 1980s, it took about three years for the “horrendous” smell emitted by a poultry rendering plant to impact values, he said.
“It’s so early in the game as far as tracking sales, it is difficult to ascertain what that loss may be,” Scott said.
A lack of sales in an already struggling market can add to the difficulty in assessing the impact of environmental concerns, said Hal Copeland, interim chief appraiser of the Chatham County assessors office.
Typically, assessors can use sales from similar neighborhoods, but when an area faces a unique situation such as the discharge, there may be no comparison, Copeland said. Instead, assessors may have to look at listed prices and the amount of time a property has lingered on the market, he said.
While no Chatham appeals cited the river issues this year, Copeland said such situations can have an impact.
“People buying those properties liked the access to water,” he said. “Now, with the fish kill, people are afraid.”