Gold Creek Foods has ignited a legal firestorm against Dawsonville, Georgia, and its municipal leaders, as they contend with hefty surcharges and the looming threat of water service disruptions over alleged wastewater violations stemming from their local chicken processing facility.
In the federal filing on Friday, Gold Creek raised accusations that Dawsonville authorities had unjustly categorized their wastewater as “high strength” under city regulations, despite the company’s adherence to prescribed effluent standards.
At the heart of the dispute, Gold Creek is urgently pursuing both interim and permanent injunctions to forestall any termination of services and to annul what they deem unlawful penalties. Moreover, the company is aggressively seeking a declaratory judgment, challenging the constitutionality of the city’s ordinances. In a bold move, they are also pushing for the city to shoulder the entirety of their legal expenses.
Since its establishment in 2004, Gold Creek’s Dawsonville plant has been a cornerstone of the local economy, providing employment to 402 individuals. However, the recent legal clash threatens to disrupt not only the company’s operations but also the livelihoods of its workforce.
