12.03.08
Wednesday Headlines: Two Million Gallon Sewage Spill in Delaware
A two million gallon sewage spill in Delaware has closed the Mispillion River from Milford to the Delaware Bay. A major sewer line along state Route 1 north of Milford broke, causing the discharge. The State Water Resources Director county sewage system managers had no choice but to divert sewage into the river. Two food processing plants halted production to help curb the discharge.
Headlines
As part of a pilot program aimed at reducing sewer blockages and overflows and accidental spills, the Raleigh suburb of Cary, North Carolina is encouraging residents to save their cooking oils, fats and grease in sealable containers. According to the town, such refuse contributed to 16 sewer overflows in 2006 and six overflows in 2007.
A water main break this morning flooded an intersection in southeast Rochester, New York. City crews are working in the area today, and dug a large hole to work on the water main.
Two northbound lanes of 50th Street in Tampa, Florida are closed while the city’s Water Department repairs a broken 24-inch water main. Restoration of the road surface is expected to be completed by the end of the week.
A local fitness facility in Norton Shores, Michigan may reopen today after being closed due to a water main break.
Sewer Rate News
Carlsbad, California
Frisco, Texas
Marietta, Ohio
Muncie, Indiana
11.20.08
Thursday Headlines: Editorial Addresses Infrastructure in Economic Stimulus
An editorial in today’s Arizona Daily Star addresses the need for an economic stimulus package that includes investment in infrastructure. Although the editorial focuses on the need to put people back to work by addressing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, it does specifically address the dire state of America’s wastewater systems.
Consider, for instance, the nationwide problem of sewage overflows. Many older cities have combined sewer-stormwater systems that overflow during big storms, dumping untreated waste into rivers and drinking-water reservoirs.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at least $202 billion is needed to prevent sewer overflows at some 16,000 wastewater treatment plants across the country. While Congress can’t invest that kind of money immediately, it could make a down payment on a health threat that grows bigger every year.
10.27.08
Monday Headlines: In Boston, 16-Inch Water Main Break Closes Streets
Boston Public Works crews worked overnight on Saturday and all day on Sunday after a 16-inch water main ruptured. Roads were shut down around City Hall and the Brooke Courthouse, and a stretch of Cambridge Street was slightly buckled by the break. Some homes were flooded and other residents reported low water pressure.
Headlines
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the cause of the discharge of nearly 400,000 gallons of sewage sludge from a sewage treatment plant in Bordenton Township.
Water-main breaks during routine hydrant flushing are believed to be the cause of an E. coli contamination last week in Fulton, New York. Said Mayor Ron Woodward, “We have 63 miles of water line in the city and some of them are 100 years old.”
New Castle County, Delaware faces more than $145,000 in penalties and other expenses for violating a five-year-old order to improve overflowing sewage and stormwater collection systems.
In Miles Crossing, Oregon, work has begun on a long-awaited sewer system. The $8.1 million project is expected to take a year to complete and will initially serve about 400 homes and businesses.
Sewer Rate News
Ashland, Pennsylvania
Homer, Alaska
Lake County, California
Lincoln, Illinois
07.24.08
Thursday Headlines: Heavy Rain Causes CSO in Bay County, Mich.
Heavy thunderstorms on Tuesday afternoon caused of an overflow of partially treated sewage from a retention basin in Bay County, Michigan. More than 1.8 million gallons were discharged from the combined sewer system that takes in both stormwater and sanitary sewage in the same pipes.
In Delaware, with the municipal election just around the corner, Rehoboth Beach’s mayoral candidates quickly squared off over wastewater disposal alternatives.
The town of Porter, Indiana on will need a 60 percent sewer rate increase, in two phases, to bring the town’s system into compliance with Indiana Department of Environmental Management requirements.
Sewer Rate News
DeSoto County, Mississippi
Elkland, Pennsylvania
Los Altos, California
Ogunquit, Maine
06.03.08
Monday Headlines: Problems Statewide for TN Water Treatment Plants
Data provided by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division shows that 68 publicly owned treatment works in the state are under some type of order to get their systems up to standards.
Headlines
Residents in Bremerton, Washington are being warned to avoid the waters of Oyster and Ostrich bays following a spill of raw sewage onto the beach.
In California, regulators have proposed levying six-figure fines against both Sacramento County and Placer County for sewage spills.
Sewer Rate News
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
New Albany, Indiana
03.10.08
Monday Headlines: Prescription Drugs in the Water
The story receiving the most attention today is an AP report that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas. Here is the explanation of how something so unexpected happens:
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
Headlines
The state of Pennsylvania is making a $22.3 million investment in 124 projects that will help restore the state’s polluted streams, provide clean water, and help prevent floods in communities across the commonwealth
California Assemblyman Jared Huffman pushes for consolidation of the six sewer treatment agencies in southern Marin County after a January 25 incident that dumped 2.45 million gallons of virtually raw sewage into Richardson Bay
Rehoboth Beach officials weigh the possibility of privatizing their wastewater treatment system while the Mayor remains sceptical
Citizens of tourist hotspot Waikiki are pushing local officials to update a 12-year-old infrastructure master plan that includes water and sewer lines
