The Ogeechee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit Monday claiming that King America Finishing, a textiles plant in Dover, has violated the federal Clean Water Act since at least April 2006.
Represented by GreenLaw, Stack and Associates, the Ogeechee Riverkeeper organization, led by Dianna Wedincamp, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Savannah. The lawsuit alleges that King America Finishing continues illegally to discharge pollution to the Ogeechee River.
Lee Dehihns, an attorney representing King America, said Tuesday: “The company is concerned that the Ogeechee Riverkeeper is suing it for allegations and will vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.”
Don Stack, an attorney representing the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, said the company has clearly violated the Clean Water Act.
“It is pretty clear ... King America and the Environmental Protection Division are going to both be held accountable for allowing conditions to exist to degrade one of Georgia’s most beautiful and pristine rivers,” he said.
King America had more than a year to address serious pollution violations following the state’s largest fish kill, “but they didn’t,” Wedincamp said. “The government had years to stop the pollution, and they didn’t. We are asking the courts to do what the environmental law enforcers have failed to do — to stop the pollution of the Ogeechee River from King America Finishing.”
The lawsuit demands a jury trial.
In part, the suit reads: “The Riverkeeper brings this action on behalf of itself and members who have been injured by the defendants’ failure to comply with federal and state laws as well as local ordinances governing the discharge of pollutants into a water of the U.S. without a permit.”

Read more in the July 28 edition of the News.