07.01.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Sewer Tunnel Almost Complete in Lafayette, Indiana
After nearly a year of digging, the $18.5 million sewer tunnel under downtown Lafayette, Indiana is nearly complete. The tunnel is being drilled to hold up to 1.2 million gallons of combined sewage and stormwater which will help reduce the amount of raw sewage discharged into the Wabash River during storms.
The city has increased sewer rates a total of 33 percent since April 2006 to generate the $27 million needed to pay for the tunnel, lift station and related work. An additional $84 a year in sewage fees for the average Lafayette household.
Headlines
Water officials in Tampa, Florida are rerouting traffic in the Tampa Heights neighborhood following a break in a 24-inch water main. Residents might see brown or discolored water while repairs are in progress.
The Sanitary District in Muncie, Indiana will borrow $9 million in bonds to clean up sewage overflow in Jakes Creek in northwest Muncie and in the White River.
Stimulus Spotlight
The City of El Paso, Texas is on the verge of receiving a $12 million no interest loan from the economic stimulus package for five stormwater projects to improve flood water drainage and flow around the city.
Lansing, Michigan now can pursue $16 million in improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment plant and could be forgiven for up to $6 million of the proposed project costs. While it could mean a sewer rate increase, officials said any increase should be kept at a minimum because the economic stimulus bill presents an opportunity for nearly half of the debt to be forgiven.
Sewer Rate News
Atlanta, Georgia
Jefferson City, Missouri
Louisville, Kentucky
Maui, Hawaii
04.23.09
Thursday Headlines: Senate Bill Introduced to Correct Sewer Overflows
Ohio Senators George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown introduced a bill, the Clean Water Affordability Act of 2009, on Wednesday that would give the EPA more flexibility in dealing with communities with sewer overflow problems and would create a $1.8 billion program over five years to provide federal grants up to 75 percent of a sewer project’s cost. A similar provision in the Water Quality Investment Act (H.R. 1262) passed by the House of Representatives in March includes $2.5 billion in grants over five years for sewer overflow control grants.
Headlines
In Kansas, a project to improve the city of Emporia’s water treatment plant is one of 39 drinking water infrastructure projects in the state selected to receive $360,000 in stimulus help. The money will pay for 20 percent of a $1.8 million project that has been on the city’s capital improvement plan for some time.
A valve malfunction led to a spill of about17,500 gallons of untreated sewage into the Pearl City area of Honolulu. City crews repaired the valve and were able to collect 105,000 gallons of sewage and transfer it back into the treatment system before it entered the harbor.
A large project in Dunwoody, Georgia that will double the size of a waterline bringing raw water from the Chattahoochee River to the reservoirs at a water treatment plant is slowly moving forward.
Sewer Rate News
Chouteau, Oklahoma
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
West Cape May, New Jersey
01.07.09
Wednesday Headlines: EPA to Discuss Sewage Spill in Greenwich, Connecticut
Environmental officials from the Federal government and state of Connecticut will meet in Hartford Thursday to discuss last month’s sewer main break in Greenwich that sent 28 million gallons of wastewater into the Long Island Sound via the Mianus River.
Headlines
It’s good news, I guess. Hundreds of millions of gallons of potentially contaminated wastewater discharged into the Saginaw River early last week, when treatment plants were overloaded with stormwater and sewage. Tests now indicate the release was benign and the contaminates were below Michigan Department of Public Health maximum limits.
The city of Lula, Georgia reports a limited spill of raw sewage at one it’s pump stations. A review of the station failure shows that the excessive amount of rain received caused an estimated loss of less than 5,000 gallons of raw sewage.
The EPA is ordering the city of Honolulu to upgrade its two largest sewage treatment plants. Mayor Mufi Hannemann has said it could cost the city more than $1.2 billion to upgrade the two plants.
According to an egineering firm, the city of St. Louis, Michigan with a population of 4,494 needs nearly $12 million in wastewater system upgrades.
Sewer Rate News
Aurora, Ohio
Hollister, Missouri
Lake Stanton, Indiana
11.24.08
Monday Headlines: Chesapeake Bay Cleanup to Cost Pennsylvania $1.4 Bil.
Upgrading sewer treatment systems to meet Chesapeake Bay cleanup mandates will cost Pennsylvania municipalities an estimated $1.4 billion, according to a new state legislative study. The study by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee was authorized by the state Senate to find out how much the Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy will cost to implement.
Headlines
Warning signs were posted Sunday after thousands of gallons of sewage spilled out of manholes in several areas across Honolulu. This weekend’s heavy rains are being blamed for the overflows.
Havelock, North Carolina experienced a spill of untreated wastewater of estimated 60,000 gallons today, an estimated 10,000 of which reached State waters.
About 600 gallons of raw sewage spilled Friday onto a seaside road about a quarter-mile south of Hobson County Park in Ventura, California.
A home in Lancaster, Kentucky may be a total loss after a sewage backup ruined the basement and part of the front lawn. A sewer pipe that serves about 40 homes in the area had blockage in it caused by rags that may have been caught in a crack in the pipe.
A water main break in Waynesboro, Virginia created a small sinkhole and forced an elementary school to shut down Monday.
Sewer Rate News
Benton Harbor, Michigan
Delaware, Ohio
11.17.08
Monday Headlines: Water Main Break Leads to Boil Alert in Suburban DC
Although service has been restored following a water main break on Saturday in Largo, Maryland, residents remain under a boil water advisory. The break also affected traffic for fans traveling to the game last night between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. The advisory involves homes in a 39-square-mile area in central Prince George’s County, as well as several schools and and government buildings.
Headlines
An above-ground pipe spewed at least 100,000 gallons of raw sewage Saturday in Vista, California. The sewage spilled near the on-ramp of state Route 78 on Saturday. The age of the pipe is believed to be the cause of the spill.
In Maui, Cove Park was closed on Thursday after a blockage at a wastewater pump station Thursday led to an overflow of about 1,200 gallons of untreated sewage from a manhole cover.
A water main break slowed traffic this morning on a state highway outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania in Dickson City.
Schools are closed in Beacon Falls, Connecticut today because of a water main break.
Crash investigators in Kansas City, Missouri said a water main break may have caused an accident on Interstate 35 Sunday morning. Police said water from the break froze over the highway and a car and truck slid into each other on the slippery surface.
In the ongoing situation with Jefferson County, Alabama and its sewer debt, a federal judge will hold a hearing Monday morning to determine whether bond insurers are entitled to have Jefferson County’s troubled sewer system placed under the control of a receiver who can manage the sewer system. The county is in danger of defaulting on it $3.2 billion sewer debt.
Sewer Rate News
Burlington, New Jersey
Williams, Oregon
11.04.08
Tuesday Headlines: Voters to Decide Ballot Initiatives on Water Infrasture
It’s Election Day and there are issues on the ballot in a two states that will determine how much is invested in water infrastructure.
In Pennsylvania, voters will decide if the state should borrow $400 million to pay for water and sewer infrastructure upgrades. If passed the money would go to PENNVEST to distribute to communities for water infrastructure upgrades.
In Arkansas, voters will decide on Question Number 1, which if passed would allow the state’s Natural Resources Commission to buy up to $300 million in bonds to help local governments finance water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
Headlines
Hundreds of people in Centerville, Georgia had trouble getting ready for work and school this morning after a water main break.
A segment of Hennepin County Road 101 in Wayzata, Minnesota was closed yesterday so that work crews could repair a broken water main.
Borough council members in Ursina, Pennsylvania were visited by state officials Monday who urged progress on a $3 million sewer project. The council has decided to move forward with a grant application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development which could pay as much as 75 percent of the bill for a system that includes a 36,000 gallon per day treatment plant.
The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services will be working on 12 major sewer projects in November that may impact roadways and traffic on Island of Oahu.
Sewer Rate News
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Highland, California
10.16.08
Thursday Headlines: Funding Needed for Washington, DC Sewage Plan
This Washington Post story is a couple of weeks old but is emblematic of the problem throughout the country. Water and sewer bills in the Nation’s capital will increase dramatically if the federal government does not bear the burden of a $2.2 billion sewage management plan mandated to reduce pollution of the region’s waterways. The project is required to meet the city’s obligations under the Clean Water Act.
Headlines
Scientific American takes a look at Milwaukee’s sewer system. Since 1994, a 26-mile deep water tunnel has been keeping Milwaukee’s sewage from spilling into Lake Michigan. The deep water tunnel is just one part of a $3-billion water pollution initiative that has also upgraded 400 miles of sewer infrastructure in Milwaukee and surrounding communities.
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle has released $3.3 million for two state revolving funds, including $1,655,000 for the Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund and $1,671,000 for the Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Fund.
A projected 100 percent to 125 percent increase in fees for sanitary sewer service and stormwater management caused concern among residents attending the city of Neenah, Wisconsin’s sixth annual town meeting.
Raw sewage is no longer flowing into the Shenango River from a Mercer County, Pennsylvania pump station. For several days, a broken line was dumping as much as 500,000 gallons of untreated waste into the river.
Sewer Rate News
Homer, Alaska
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
10.09.08
Thursday Headlines: Water Main Break Floods Shopping Mall
The lower floor of a major western Pennsylvania mall is closed while firefighters and other crews work to clean up after an 8-inch water main break flooded at least 30 stores. More than 80 firefighters are using squeegees and pumps to clear out the water at the Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Headlines
A Marin Municipal Water District main broke early Wednesday in Woodacre, California sending a geyser-like flow 50 feet into the air. Water shot in the air unabated for almost 30 minutes, as 4,500 gallons were lost through a hole in a 6-inch line.
There was a raging torrent of water on Wednesday morning in Honolulu after a 24-inch water main break . An area resident said, “looks like one big surf coming through — one big surf. Everything, garbage cans, everything came toward us.”
The new water pre-treatment plant in Waco, Texas will cost about 39 million dollars and pull the plug on the problem with the city’s tap water.
Sewer Rate News
Brockton, Massachusetts
Bullhead City, Arizona
Hollister, Missouri
Livermore Falls, Maine
I’m out of the office tomorrow, so check back on Monday for all new headlines.
09.18.08
Thursday Headlines: Bay City Reports 57 Million Gallons in Sewer Overflows
In Michigan, the details of sewage overflows blamed on last weekend’s storm are starting to trickle in, with Bay City wastewater officials reporting a discharge of 57 million gallons to the Saginaw River. The overflow, of combined sewage and stormwater, occurred from Sunday through Tuesday and was reported Wednesday.
Headlines
As Peoria, Illinois decides how to address problems with combined sewer overflows, the city’s Public Works Department has developed three options for addressing the situation which range in price from $105 million to $260 million.
Quick work by a Honolulu Department of Environmental Services crew prevented 1,125 gallons of raw sewage which spilled out of a manhole and into a storm drain yesterday from reaching Moanalua Stream. The spill was caused by roots clogging an 8-inch sewer pipe.
After five water line breaks along the same segment in the past month, the city of Tyler, Texas has decided to do a line replacement at a cost of $150,000.
Construction crews had to shut-down a city block in York, Pennsylvania for more than 16 hours yesterday following an early morning water break. According to the York Water Company, the 10 inch water main break is a result of old age. The city estimates that 680 miles of piping under the city is about 100 years old, and that it will take around 100 years to replace all of it.
Sewer Rate News
Bath, Maine
Berea, Kentucky
08.20.08
Wednesday Headlines: Honolulu Found Liable for 297 violations in Sewage Spills
A federal judge has found the city of Honolulu, Hawaii liable for 297 violations of the federal Clean Water Act for discharging millions of gallons of sewage into streets, streams, homes and waterways over nine years. The judge’s order comes 10 months after ruling the city violated a federal wastewater discharge permit 4,013 times by failing to meet construction schedules for two key projects.
Headlines
In Newport Bay, California, a portion of Newport Bay was closed Tuesday afternoon after a sewage spill near Bayshore beach. The spill was caused by a sewer line that backed up from a rehabilitation hospital.
What was that story yesterday about Syracuse, New York having old water infrastructure? This morning, a water main break outside Crouse Hospital in Syracuse has flooded lower levels of the building and forced at least 12 surgeries to be postponed.
Water service was restored Tuesday afternoon to several residences and businesses in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania after a more than 17-hour interruption. The borough issued a boil advisory Tuesday morning “until further notice” as a result of the water main break.
Repairs have been made to a water main break in Kingston, Rhode Island after a cast iron 8-inch main that dated to 1884 cracked, closing down a one-block area.
Sewer Rate News
Lehigh Acres, Florida
Lewisville, Texas
Victoria, Texas
West Mahanoy Township, Pennsylvania
