Man accused of fudging water pollution reports, fouling Chattahoochee River

With a population of roughly 1,000 people, Fort Gaines hugs the Alabama-Georgia line and the banks of the Chattahoochee River.

According to the indictment, Jones’ company — Jones Water and Wastewater Consulting — had an agreement with Fort Gaines to operate the city’s wastewater treatment plant. That meant it was Jones’ responsibility to make sure the facility’s wastewater met pollution standards set by its permit.

The city of Fort Gaines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The city’s water treatment plant is allowed to release up to 300,000 gallons of wastewater a day into the Chattahoochee River just south of Walter F. George Lake, provided it meets certain pollution limits. The facility’s Georgia Environment Protection Division-issued permit allows only certain levels of phosphorus, nitrogen, E.coli and other pollutants to remain in wastewater that’s released into the river.

Like other facilities in Georgia, the Fort Gaines plant is also required to regularly collect wastewater samples and submit results to EPD and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The indictment alleges that July 8-9, 2025, Jones “knowingly” released wastewater containing levels of potentially harmful bacteria “far exceeding” permitted limits.

In Georgia, EPD has the authority to enforce aspects of the federal Clean Water Act in the state. The indictment alleges Jones also submitted falsified wastewater sampling results to EPD.

In July and August of 2025, Jones prepared and signed off on sampling results that said Fort Gaines’ wastewater met required standards, despite knowing the effluent contained bacteria levels “well in excess of the permitted amount,” the indictment says.

The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper said in a news release Tuesday the nonprofit’s water quality monitoring efforts helped put the pollution problems on regulators’ radar. The riverkeeper’s network of monitors regularly samples water across the Chattahoochee River Basin, which winds from North Georgia through metro Atlanta and eventually empties into Florida’s Apalachicola Bay.

Starting in 2024, the group said it began detecting bacteria concentrations more than 300 times the allowed weekly average coming out of the Fort Gaines wastewater treatment plant into the Chattahoochee River. The riverkeeper says it notified the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division about the pollution issues.

In a statement, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper executive director Jason Ulseth said the indictment “sends a message to wastewater treatment plant operators throughout the Chattahoochee River Basin.”

“CRK (Chattahoochee Riverkeeper) is on the water monitoring every wastewater discharge, and we’re prepared to work with federal agencies to investigate polluters who falsify reports, harm the river, and endanger people and wildlife,” Ulseth said.