Archaeological Survey of Cobb-Fulton Counties; Camp Creek Interceptor Sewer and Flint River Treatment Plant

A total of thirteen archeological sites were investigated, twelve of which were heretofore unrecorded. Of the thirteen, eleven were associated with prehistoric occupations and two had evidence of late historic occupation. A "Summary" of the cultural and scientific significance of all findings is included with the Field Notes of the staff archeologist. Most of the sites located by this reconnaissance are well away from the right-of-way construction zone, however they should be noted and avoided as contractors' access routes. 9-Cn-18 B and 9-Cn-26 are peripheral' to the construction right-of-way but can be avoided if the contractor does not exceed the limits of the current right-of-way as staked. To avoid any mishap or accidental intrusion into the site boundaries, it is recommended that a pre-construction meeting be held between the contractor, and the engineering firm and. members of the Archeological Survey of Cobb-, Fulton Counties in order to point out the site boundaries. The remaining sites, assessed as being within the limits of possible secondary impact, pose a rather complex problem. While direct secondary impact from sewer line construction is easily mitigated by avoidance, indirect impact as a result of improved pollution control facilities is much more difficult to assess. This indirect impact falls within the jurisdiction of local government only at the point of applying planning-and-zoning regulations. Federal agencies, such as EPA, can hardly be. expected to exert much control in the realm of private property rights unless it can be shown that such rights are in direct conflict with specific Federal law - i.e. Section.L0L• of P.L. 92-500. Since most local governments are committed to a program of planned growth, in the forms of urban, industrial or commercial expansion, mitigation must come from a general public awareness of cultural resources and the need to preserve such resources at the private citizen level. If Clayton County initiates a county-wide survey which includes historical and archeological sites and, as have Cobb and Fulton counties', incorporate such survey into the applications for rezoning, much of the cultural resource base can be conserved. It requires that the applicant be informed that his property contains archeological or historical materials, that he is then willing to co-operate in the conservation of these resources, and that the archeologists provide him with sound and cost-effective method of doing so. The final recommendation, stemming from the present reconnaissance, is that all other Clayton County Water Authority construction projects be preceded by archeological investigations at the earliest point of planning. This is particularly important for the Flint River corridor in the southern portion of the County.