In 1964, the federal government considered placing buoys in Lake Lanier to warn recreational users to avoid a contaminated area where Flat Creek flows into the lake. At the time, a local health official cautioned lake users to avoid the mouth of Flat Creek for a “reasonable distance” out into the lake, as a Gainesville work crew cleared the creek banks of “piles of waste from chicken processing plants that have overloaded the city’s sewage treatment plant on the creek.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 3, 1964) The federal Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, requires that pollution sources such as Gainesville’s sewage plant and the chicken plants upgrade their treatment systems to meet specific standards. In many places, significant funds were invested and most waterways are cleaner today.