A troubled sewage treatment system at McLemore Resort on Lookout Mountain experienced two raw sewage spills within a three-month period, according to a report from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
The report states a lift station within the resort’s wastewater collection system released approximately 60,000 gallons of raw sewage into Mill Creek in late October 2025. A second spill of about 9,300 gallons occurred in January 2026 from another lift station within the facility’s collection system.
Both spills entered Mill Creek, which runs near Tatum Road in the valley below the resort before eventually flowing into West Chickamauga Creek in the McLemore Cove area.
The spills are among a series of wastewater violations documented by EPD involving the resort’s sewage treatment plant. According to the state report, the facility has recorded 112 permit violations since McLemore Resort took over operation of the wastewater system from Dade County in April 2022.
The violations include repeated exceedances of permitted limits for pollutants, including biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, fecal coliform, turbidity, and wastewater flow.
EPD officials say the facility’s wastewater challenges are connected in part to increased flows from the resort’s hotel operations. During a March 2025 inspection, the report states the facility operator confirmed the treatment process was being overwhelmed by heavy flows from the hotel, causing the system to short-circuit.
EPD issued a Notice of Violation in October 2025 requiring McLemore Resort to submit a corrective action plan. The resort submitted a plan that included expanding the wastewater treatment plant to handle additional flows.
However, state officials say the resort failed to begin the expansion by the required February 19, 2026 deadline and did not submit a required permit renewal application.
An EPD order issued in April has placed a moratorium on all new construction at McLemore Resort until required improvements are completed and the wastewater system is capable of handling increased flows.
The order prohibits new construction, including residential units, employee housing, event spaces, pools, sporting facilities, golf-related projects, and additional hotel development.
The cost of improvements required under the order may be used to offset a potential penalty of $111,875.