07.08.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Rainfall Causes Record Beach Closures in Massachusetts
The state of Massachusetts has had a record number of beach closures so far this season, mainly due to high bacteria levels caused by heavy rainfall. According to the state’s Department of Public Health there have been 188 closures of the state’s roughly 1,100 bathing beaches.
Headlines
Whitestown, New York contractor crews will be testing sewer lines this week for the engineering study for the Oneida County Sewer District’s overflow abatement project. The test locates leaks, faulty connections and broken pipelines in the system which will prevent overflows.
Some good news out of Orange County, California that for the sixth year in a row sewage spills have dropped. This is part of a continuing trend toward cleaner beaches the sewage spill rate has been at its lowest since 2000.
Stimulus Spotlight
The Texas Water Development Board has been awarded $160 million worth of stimulus funds to help finance the cost of replacing water infrastructures in the state. EPA officials say the funds will go to invest in several overdue water projects that are essential to protecting public heath and the environment.
Two Utah Indian tribes are getting pieces of the $90 million in stimulus money targeted at helping to upgrade water quality and create jobs for tribal communities nationwide.
Sewer Rate News
Hamilton, Iowa
Herber Springs, Arkansas
Kansas City, Missouri
New Albany, Indiana
07.07.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Main Break Stops Essential Water Use in South Austin (Tx.)
Residents of Austin, Texas were told to stop all essential water use, including outdoor watering, this morning as crews began repairing a 54-inch water main. The water line provides the city with 60% of the drinking water for residents and businesses south of the river and is one of the city’s main water arteries.
Headlines
A pipe burst in a building near Shepard Park Beach in New York caused 10,000 gallons of raw sewage to dump into the Adirondack Lake over the holiday weekend. The Lake George beach was forced to close on one of the busiest weekends for the area. Clean up of the beach is scheduled to begin Tuesday and the beach will be reopened as soon as possible.
The New Jersey Local Finance Board is considering a borough of Buena’s Municipal Utilities Authority project which is a federally financed project that will take 12-15 months to complete. The project has two impacts on the MUA. First, the new system will send treated wastewater into lagoons, where it will percolate into the ground. Wastewater presently is sent into a stream. Second, the authority’s capacity to treat wastewater will increase from 400,000 gallons to 600,000 gallons, enabling more service for residential and commercial uses. That also benefits neighboring Buena Vista Township, which has the right to use one-third of the increase in treatment capacity.
Stimulus Spotlight
Delaware state lawmakers and public officials accepted $19.2 million in federal money to clean up water. Governor Jack Markell said the money will allow the state to employ citizens in “green jobs.”
Sewer Rate News
Laramie, Wyoming
Mount Airy, North Carolina
Middlesex, Massachusetts
07.06.09
Monday’s Water News: D.C. Sewage Plant in Need of Costly Upgrades
Plans for fixing Washington, D.C.’s Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant carries a hefty price tag. Nitrogen upgrades have to be fixed by 2015 under the new EPA permit, and the combined sewer overflow problem is on schedule to be fixed by 2025.
For the nitrogen work, the states of Maryland and Virginia will kick in money, as a large amount of the Blue Plains sewage comes from their residents, but the bigger bill–the $2.2 billion for the sewer overflows–has to be paid for solely by D.C. residents.
Headlines
Sewer workers are still trying to identify and temporarily fix a leak in Provincetown, Massachusetts’ wastewater collection system, following a July 4th weekend with nymerous overflow calls.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is calling the Michigan City Sanitary District’s sewer overflow reporting unsatisfactory after it was discovered there are no records of a number of overflows for a period of three years prior to a spill in May.
In Austin, Texas, water officials are urging swimmers to stay away from Bull Creek after thousands of gallons of sewage spilled into a tributary of the creek Saturday.
Stimulus Spotlight
Despite the slow pace of the stimulus spending in Arizona, in Tempe, new work on a stimulus-funded water-treatment system is expected to soon support 260 jobs.
Sewer Rate News
Norwood, Massachusetts
Sterling Heights, Michigan
06.18.09
Thursday’s Water News: Same Main Breaks Again in Helena, Montana
Thousands of gallons of water gushed through the pavement of Ninth Avenue in Helena, Montana on Thursday afternoon after the same water pipe broke for the second time in nine days. Most water mains in the area of the break are more than 50 years old.
Headlines
City employees in Bradenton, Florida have closed the Palma Sola Causeway after about 1,000 gallons of sewage leaked into the water and ground area due to a force main break. Workers used lime to disinfect the area where the spill happened, however it will take several days to dilute the sewage in the water.
An overflow of sewage into the East Fork of the Whitewater River in Richmond, Indiana has been caused by recent rainfall. Residents have been advised to avoid all contact with the river water of this area for at least 72 hours.
The $14 million expansion project on the new Reedsport, Oregon wastewater treatment facility is right on track according to officials. The project came about after the Department of Environmental Quality requested that the plant be expanded.
Stimulus Spotlight
$123 million in water and environmental projects has been pledged by the USDA for South Dakota through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including $3.68 million for the Aurora Brule Rural Water System.
Sewer Rate News
Washington, DC
Melrose, Massachusetts
Eagle Lake, Florida
Tampa, Florida
06.16.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Dover (N.J.) Residents Without Water After Main Break
A water main break in Dover, New Jersey left about 500 residents in three towns with low pressure or no pressure today. The town administrator speculates it was wear that caused the eight-inch main to crack.
Headlines
In Fort Wayne (IN), a water main break caused a portion of a street to close causing city utility crews to work to repair the break.
Holbrook, Arizona has been given 30 daysto file approximately two years worth of missing reports related to wastewater treatment and disposal. The city was either late or failed to submit reports describing the quality of treated wastewater, mainly used for irrigation.
The Department of Health & Environmental Control in Columbia, South Carolina is investigating another case of sewage overflow in the city. Some of the overflow may have ended up in the Columbia Canal and the Congaree River which still hold warning signs for elevated bacteria levels found earlier this year.
Stimulus Spotlight
The federal government on Monday awarded $185 million in stimulus money to the state of Massachusetts for projects aimed toward improving drinking water and the treatment of wastewater. The money will create new opportunities and jobs but a figure cannot be given as to how many will be created.
Sewer Rate News
Melrose, Massachusetts
Tampa Bay, Florida
Marietta, Ohio
Morgantown, West Virginia
06.12.09
Friday’s Water News: Sausalito/Marin City Fined for February Sewage Spills
The Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District (Calif.) faces $332,000 in fines for three spills of more than 775,000 gallons of sewage that occurred in February when partially treated wastewater gushed into Richardson Bay after an underwater pipe at one of the district’s wastewater treatment plants burst.
Headlines
An equipment failure at a Barnstable, Massachusetts pumping station has caused several beaches around Lewis Bay to be closed until further notice.
Scott Township, Pennsylvania has secured a $2.5 million grant from the USDA–in addition the $15 million loan the agency had already allocated–for its long-awaited sewer project.
Stimulus Spotlight
On Long Island, the economic stimulus bill will pay $13.2 million to bring sewer service to 63 Locust Valley homes with failing septic systems, and an additional $10.4 million to build a sewer plant for a Brookhaven industrial park sited in a special groundwater protection area.
Ironton, Ohio’s persistence has netted the city federal stimulus money for its aging sewer system. Following an April 23 setback that shut out Ironton from receiving a portion of $278 million the Ohio EPA allocated for water and sewer rehabilitation, the state agency reconsidered this week and earmarked $5 million towards the city’s sanitary and overflow sewer separation facilities.
Sewer Rate News
Middlebury, Connecticut
Springfield, Massachusetts
Wellsley, Massachusetts
06.09.09
Tuesday’s Water News: Columbus, Ohio to Receive Stimulus Money for Sewers
Columbus, Ohio may receive up to $5 million in federal stimulus funds — money that local officials didn’t expect — to help clean up sewer problems. The money will help extend a sewer line along the city’s South Side and fix two sewer lines Downtown.
The city is working under a court-ordered settlement with the Ohio EPA to end such overflows. The estimated $2.5 billion cost to complete the work could triple homeowners’ water bills over the next 40 years.
Headlines
On July 6, crews will begin testing equipment at a $14.2 million Combined Sewer Overflow Station in Chicopee (MA) for the preparation of its opening later that month.
A sewage water overflow has prompted clean-up efforts in Florence County (SC) after an estimated 18,000 gallons of sewage made its way from the pump station to the Middle Swamp.
Stimulus Spotlight
In Indiana, Richmond Sanitary District officials will tackle the first of several court-mandated sewer projects with federal stimulus money. The district recently accepted a bid of $1.741 million for the project.
Missouri will get nearly $8 million in stimulus funding for rural development. The stimulus funding is provided for safe drinking water and improved wastewater treatment systems for rural towns and communities.
Sewer Rate News
Newark, DE
Funkstown, MD
Fredonia, NY
Elsinore Valley, CA
06.05.09
Friday’s Water News: Millbrae, Calif. to Replace Wastewater Treatment Plant
In California, the city of Millbrae and its over 50-year-old wastewater treatment plant will get a much needed makeover after the city inked a $34 million contract with the California Water Resources Control Board to use state revolving fund financing for the project.
Headlines
In Fort Myers Beach, Florida, a water main break closed down San Carlos Boulevard. The main break this morning flooded the road and forced water to be shut down in about 80 homes.
Raw sewage has flowed into Overton creek (TX) for the 3rd time in four years. On a piece of land more than 400 feet long by 75 feet wide raw sewage sits about eight inches deep.
Water is overflowing in High Point, North Carolina after a major break in a water main has closed the south and north bound lanes of state Highway 311.
Stimulus Spotlight
Rockford, Illinois will be using $7 million in federal economic stimulus funds to complete “some badly needed” water infrastructure projects
$130 million will be awarded to 22 communities throughout New York for the construction of water treatment plants and the installation of sewer system upgrades. The projects are estimated to create 1,300 jobs across the state in many areas that have been affected severely by the current recession.
Sewer Rate News
Ogden, Utah
Rockford, Michigan
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
06.04.09
Thursday’s Water News: Massive Water Main Break in Norfolk
A major thoroughfare in Norfolk, Virginia was reopened this morning after a break in a 30-inch water main flooded the nearby railroad underpass in 6 feet of water Wednesday evening.
Headlines
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is looking for public input on two sewer projects proposed by the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, one to serve the city’s growing northeast side and the other to shore up a deteriorating pipe.
Water quickly rushed down a road in the eastside of El Paso, Texas early this morning after a rupture in a 8-inch water main
Stimulus Spotlight
In New York, three Capital Region counties will receive $20.5 million of federal stimulus funding to build water treatment facilities or upgrade sewer systems.
Seven storm-water projects in the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri will receive nearly $3.1 million combined from the recently passed economic stimulus legislation.
Sewer Rate News
Fontana, California
Granby, Massachusetts
Mount Vernon-Lisbon, Iowa
06.03.09
Wednesday’s Water News: Main Break Shoots Water Sky High in Colorado Springs
A water main break this morning in Colorado Springs, Colorado shot water about 100 feet high just before 3:30 a.m. this morning. The force of the water tore a large hole in the street, and scattered rock and gravel in the area.
Headlines
A water main break in Towson, Maryland which flooded much of the area and is still a traffic nuisance. The water caused the road of a major street to buckle and caused Baltimore County Police to close part of the southbound lanes in the area of the break.
Part of a Hilton Head, South Carolina waterway has been closed to swimmers after a blocked sewer line sent nearly 200,000 gallons of sewage gushing out of a manhole and into Battery Creek.
Stimulus Spotlight
Maryland has been awarded nearly $122 million Tuesday from the EPA to fund drinking water projects and improve water quality as part of the federal government’s latest round of stimulus spending.
Today the EPA announced it will give the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority $54.8 million in stimulus funds to help local governments finance improvements to water infrastructure.
Sewer Rate News
Johnson County, Kansas
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Prescott Valley, Arizona
Silverton, Oregon
