I didn’t set out to be an environmental advocate. But when the Southern Environmental Law Center told my family that the land we’ve lived on for generations — and the Coosawattee River that runs through it — was contaminated with some of the highest levels of PFAS ever recorded, I didn’t have a choice.
That’s how our group, Calhoun: Water Matters, began.
Not with a mission statement. With desperation.
I grew up on Pine Chapel Road in Calhoun, Georgia. It was once picture-perfect: golden pastures, deer at the tree line, cattle grazing in the sun. But when I was about 8, the trucks came.
First, they dumped raw sludge straight out of their tailgates. Then came hazmat suits, industrial sprayers and a clear unwillingness to touch what they were spraying on our soil.
The substance was “biosolids,” a form of fertilizer made from treated sewage. But it was full of PFAS — a class of synthetic “forever chemicals” used in everything from nonstick pans to industrial cleaners. These chemicals don’t break down in the environment or in the human body. They accumulate. They persist. They’ve been linked to cancer, thyroid disease, immune disorders, ADHD and developmental delays.
They told us it was “good for the grass.”
Now, decades later, we’re drinking PFAS. Breathing it. Growing food in contaminated soil.
Despite court ruling, no remediation has occurred
Credit: Michael Filippino
Credit: Michael Filippino
Emory University’s Dr. Dana Barr told me that a cup of water contaminated with sludge from Sludge Field 11 could warrant lifetime medical monitoring.
We drank well water growing up. So did our neighbors. My parents are now in their 70s and 80s. What should have been peaceful retirement has become fear, uncertainty and silence.
In 2023, the Southern Environmental Law Center sued the city of Calhoun on behalf of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, and my family joined the suit. The lawsuit revealed that three illegal man-made ditches had been secretly dumping PFAS runoff into the Coosawattee River — sending contamination downstream toward Lake Weiss and Alabama. One reading showed over 200,000 parts per trillion of PFAS. The EPA’s health advisory limit for PFOA is 0.004 ppt.
Despite a federal court ruling, no remediation has occurred. No signs warn residents. No state investigation has taken place. We’ve been turned away by health departments, ignored by elected officials and denied medical support.
We’re not alone. Famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich’s team published a piece called “Sludge for Nothing, But PFAS Forever” and visited Gordon County, helping shine a national spotlight on the issue.
PFAS Georgia has also begun sharing its data with us, and the results are staggering. Their testing found PFAS levels in our soil and household dust that are millions of times higher than what would be acceptable in water. Because there is no official government standard yet for PFAS in soil or dust, we are standing on the precipice of science. These findings are not just alarming — they are unprecedented.
In addition, Emory has started releasing results from the community PFAS blood testing. The numbers are all over the place, which tells us this crisis isn’t localized. It’s not just one neighborhood or one sludge field — it’s systemic. One of the highest blood readings I’ve seen so far was 211. For perspective: over 20 is considered severe. The Dark Waters case — the most famous PFAS lawsuit in U.S. history — had an average blood level of 150. Ours is worse.
We are suffering and we are being ignored
Meanwhile, cattle still graze on Sludge Field 11, right on Pine Chapel Road. I’ve contacted every agency I can think of — ag extension services, environmental hotlines, health departments — but no one will say where that beef is sold. I used to live in Atlanta, where fancy restaurants bragged about grass-fed beef from Gordon County. I wonder now if it came from our road, from our sludge fields, from land soaked in PFAS.
And it’s not just cattle. Any farmland touched by the Coosawattee — used for crops, sod or livestock — is likely affected. This isn’t just a local crisis. It’s a statewide food safety issue.
We’re not a nonprofit. We’re not a lawsuit. We’re people who live here. Calhoun: Water Matters was founded by Kim Chapman and me, both born and raised here, both fighting for what government agencies refuse to protect.
Many of us suffer from conditions we can’t explain — high cholesterol, kidney issues, ADHD, cancer — but we have no infrastructure to connect the dots. No local monitoring. No specialists. Just questions.
We are people with names, histories, and illnesses, ignored while others take the spotlight. We’re not trying to make a name.
We’re trying to save lives.
This is our county. This is our water. This is our fight.
If you’re a journalist, a policymaker, a doctor, or just someone who believes in clean water — hear us.
We’ve been screaming into the void. Please, scream back.
Hartwell Brooks is the co-founder of Calhoun: Water Matters, a community effort fighting PFAS contamination in Gordon County.
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