06.11.09
Thursday’s Water News: Tunnel Project to Capture Half of Indy’s Overflows
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has announced that federal officials approved a change to city sewer improvement plans that will more quickly capture billions of gallons of sewage now overflowing into the White River. A $257 million Deep Rock Tunnel Connector project will replace earlier plans to connect the city’s two wastewater treatment plants and will capture more than half of the city’s overflows.
Headlines
Heavy rain caused two sewage spills in Alamance County (N.C.) last week. The city of Graham reported a spill on Friday of approximately 9,000 gallons, while the town of Swepsonville also a reported a spill of 4,800 gallons.
The Richmond, Indiana Sanitary District expects to replace part of its aging sanitary sewer line for almost $1 million less than the original estimate.
Stimulus Spotlight
Several Southern Colorado water projects have a good shot at receiving federal stimulus money due to the recent ranking by state water quality regulators.
Water districts in the Kansas counties of Osage and Pottawatomie will receive a total of $5.4 million in federal stimulus funds to install and replace water lines and build new water storage tanks.
Sewer Rate News
Bandon, Oregon
Rochester, New Hampshire
San Luis Obispo, California
Willards, Maryland
04.24.09
Friday Headlines: Ohio Announces Stimulus Funding for Projects
The Ohio EPA yesterday announced the 324 water and wastewater infrastructure projects that will be funded from $278 million in federal stimulus money. 3,300 applications were received by Ohio EPA from cities, counties and villages seeking funding to fix or replace water and wastewater infrastructure.
Headlines
A budget review committee in Nashua, New Hampshire has recomended borrowing $51.3 million for improvements to the city’s combined sewer system.
A Connecticut homeowner’s discovery on Monday of what turned out to be harmless copepods and rotifers in his water filter prompted an initial advisory to tens of thousands of customers in Hartford and nine area communities to boil their tap water before drinking it or using it for cooking.
Crews in Ottumwa, Iowa are conducting smoke tests on the sewer system to locate breaks and defects in sanitary sewer pipes.
A $486,000 sanitary sewer project in Torrington, Connecticut is still expected to be completed on time despite currently being slightly behind schedule.
Sewer Rate News
North Ridgeville, Ohio
O’Fallon, Missouri
04.21.09
Tuesday Headlines: Rhode Island Town May Suspend Sewer Expansion
The Town Administrator of North Smithfield, Rhode Island has asked the Town Council to suspend a controversial town sewer expansion project for up to 60 days in response to criticism over the project’s cost. Some homeowners have voiced concerns about the long-term cost of the project, which is being financed by a $21-million sewer bond approved by voters in 2007.
Headlines
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has announced that a total of 108 drinking water and wastewater projects will be partially funded by money from the economic stimulus.
The city of Lorain, Ohio will spend $3 million on the final phase of an Ohio EPA-mandated project to deal with the delivery and storage of sewage.
Works crews have finished cleaning up a 14,000- gallon sewage spill in Winterville, North Carolina after a small split in a sewer pipe sent raw sewage onto a pathway and into an adjacent canal.
The Bureau of Reclamation will spend $1 billion in federal stimulus money on water-infrastructure projects, including about $88 million in the state of Arizona.
Sewer Rate News
Jacksonville, Florida
Manteno, Illinois
Pontiac, Illinois
Star City, West Virginia
03.27.09
Friday Headlines: Sewer Main Collapse in Fort Wayne Keeps Road Closed
Following up on a story from Tuesday, officials in Fort Wayne, Indiana say it will take longer than expected to fix a 30-foot deep sinkhole that’s closed a street near the city’s downtown since the weekend. The sinkhole was caused after a 125 year-old brick sewer main collapsed.
Headlines
Residents in Seabrook, New Hampshire will have to pay about $2.5 million less for their new water treatment plant thanks to the federal stimulus money allocated to the town. Construction of the new plant is expected to begin this summer.
Doheny State Beach, in Dana Point, California reopened today following a sewage spill that forced swimmers, surfers and divers out of the ocean Monday.
The state of Washington has received 347 applications totaling $416 million for the $38 million from the economic stimulus devoted to water projects.
The city of Hesperia, California will pay $6 milion for a new sub-regional wastewater facility with the goal is to make the city’s water supplies stretch further for an ever-growing population.
Sewer Rate News
West Cape May, New Jersey
Wilmington, Delaware
Xenia, Ohio
03.25.09
Wednesday Headlines: Stimulus Funds Likely for Projects in Portsmouth, N.H.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire has received preliminary approval for $7.2 million in funding through the federal economic stimulus package for two infrastructure projects. The two projects expected to receive money are a continuation of a sewer separation project and replacement of a water treatment plant.
Headlines
Some Mayors in the state of Vermont are unhappy over which drinking water and wastewater projects are being funded with funds from the economic stimulus bill.
Alabama Governor Bob Riley has formally asked the White House to guarantee Jefferson County’s bonds as part of a debt-restructuring plan to solve the $3.9 billion sewer debt crisis.
According to the local utilities department in Charlotte, North Carolina, about 182,000 of partially-treated sewage spilled into a local creek on Saturday.
Classes at Cheyney Univerity in Pennsylvania were cancelled today and the campus was closed after a water main break today. The break prevented anyone on campus from drinking water from the tap or using it for bathing.
Sewer Rate News
Cape Charles, Virginia
Fairhope, Alabama
Huntington, West Virginia
Norwich, Connecticut
01.08.09
Thursday Headlines: Md. Water Main Break Leads to Calls for More Oversight
The big water main break last month in Bethesda, Maryland has renewed calls from state legislators to improve oversight of the utility that serves Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, opposes the idea contending the bill would put county businesses at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring counties in Maryland.
Headlines
Untreated sewage flowed out of a sewer manhole in Pismo Beach, California, closed part of Shell Beach. Grease collecting in the sewer line is blamed for plugging the line and causing the sewage to overflow out of the manhole.
In California, East Bay Municipal Utility District crews, with help from the city of Berkeley and Caltrans, worked Wednesday to repair a sinkhole caused by a water-main break near California State Highway 13.
Several intersections in a Duluth, Minnesota neighborhood were blocked off Wednesday evening after a water main break. Some people had to scrape their cars of the ice formed on their cars parked along the street.
A busted water main closed the high school in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on Tuesday. The affected water main looked like it had been sheared right in half.
Sewer Rate News
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Dunkirk, Ohio
Merrimack, New Hampshire
Norwalk, Ohio
07.08.08
Tuesday Headlines: Big Rate Hike for Barnstead, N.H. Neighborhood
The Pennichuck Corporation is asking the state of New Hampshire to approve a rate hike of 311 percent for some Barnstead-area residents. If approved, a homeowner who usually pays $40 a month for water now, would pay about $164 a month. Pennichuck says the increase is necessary to pay for a water system that underwent $4 million in renovations over the past two years.
Headlines
Light rail service in San Francisco on the L-Taraval line is back to normal after hours of disruption caused by a water main break. A Public Utilities Commission spokesperson said the water main failure appeared to be due to age.
Motorists are being advised to avoid a major intersection today in Lakewood, New Jersey. The Ocean County Utility Authority is working on a sewer construction project that has the roadway closed for excavation.
The city of Monticello, Indiana’s plan to correct its combined sewer overflow system has been deemed outdated and will have to undergo revisions despite preliminary approval given by the state’s Department of Environmental Management.
In Gulf Shores, Alabama, approximately 200 gallons of untreated sewage went into a storm drain that may be connected to Little Lagoon. The health department says residents should use caution if using Little Lagoon for recreational purposes.
Sewer Rate News
Abilene, Texas
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Gloucester, Massachusetts
West College Corner, Indiana
07.02.08
Wednesday Headlines: Ohio EPA Forces City to Separate Stormwater, Wastewater Systems
Fremont is one of several cities in the Buckeye State with combined stormwater and sewer water systems. The federal and state EPAs also are requiring Fremont to get rid of its 13 stormwater overflow valves in a project that will cost the city an estimated $67 million over the next 20 years. (Pictured Right, Downtown Fremont, Ohio)
Headlines
Here’s another Ohio story. Last week, storms flooded some Columbus-area residents houses with water and ingredients for salad dressing. Storm water combined with sewage from the T. Marzetti Co., a producer of salad dressings, to overwhelm the Columbus storm-sewer system flooding at least 10 nearby homes.
In York, Maine, a water main break in the basement of Village Elementary School flooded it with more than 2,000 gallons of water. The situation necessitated bringing in the state Department of Environmental Protection, because the water mixed with some oil from the burners in the basement.
Construction has begun in Nashua, New Hampshire to repair a rotted pipe and sinkhole, which will temporarily reroute daytime traffic and take up to two weeks to complete. Heavy rains running in the pipe corroded it, and then material above the pipe washed away, eventually causing the pavement to cave.
Having placed a $500,000 appropriation for Hamilton, Montana’s wastewater treatment plant upgrade into the House Interior Appropriations bill, Congressman Denny Rehberg came to the city Tuesday to visit the plant. Funding for the request would come from the Interior Department’s State and Tribal Assistance Grant program.
Sewer Rate News
Danvers, Massachusetts
Hammond, Louisiana
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Rich Creek, Virginia
Yanceyville, North Carolina
Photo by Flickr user Seth Gaines used under a Creative Commons license
06.26.08
Thursday Headlines: Ft. Wayne Spends Money to Control “Floatables”
The city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, plans to spend roughly $6 million over the next 17 years to try to keep “floatables” out of the rivers. In addition to the obvious aesthetic benefits, the plan will limit the amount of human waste that reaches the rivers.
Headlines
A sinkhole swallowed much of city block in Yarmouth, Maine on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities said a collapsed sewer pipe was to blame.
In Bellingham, Washington, about 1.2 million gallons of drinking water escaped from a ruptured 82 year-old water main and spilled into Padden Creek.
Residents and businesses in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut are still dealing with problems following a water main break late Wednesday afternoon.
A restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is closed for extensive repairs after a grease clog caused a sewer system failure.
Sewer Rate News
Camanche, Iowa
Colfax, California
Midland, Michigan
Quincy, Massachusetts
