August 31, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: New Jersey Appropriates $821 Million for Wastewater, Drking Water Projects
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed legislation to appropriate $821 million in no-cost and low-cost loans for crucial water and sewer infrastructure projects across the state. The financing, administered through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program, will make available approximately $549 million for clean water project loans and $272 million for drinking water project loans, with the federal government picking up at least half of the cost.
Headlines
The city of Austin, Texas is cleaning up a wastewater spill in a heavily wooded area of eastern Travis County. City officials estimate at least 100,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the creek and said that residents and their pets should avoid the water there until crews can clean up the spill.
A water main break on 16th Street in Omaha is fixed, but road restrictions remained in effect this morning. Traffic has been reduced to one lane in each direction on 16th Street as repairs are being made.
Stimulus Spotlight
Today in Louisiana, the Iberia Parish government and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had a ceremonial groundbreaking for the construction of an Iberia Parish wastewater treatment facility near the Acadiana Regional Airport. The federal portion of this project is funding through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will be in Berlin, Maryland this week to see firsthand the construction progress of the town’s wastewater treatment plant, a project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Sewer Rate News
Fluvanna County, Virginia
Marshall, Missouri
Parkersburg, Pennsylvania
Petoskey, Michigan
August 30, 2010
Monday’s Water News: Massive Water Main Break Leads to Smaller Ones in New Jersey
In New Jersey, seven additional water mains ruptured in and around Clifton and Passaic in the hours after a massive water main break last Tuesday dumped 40 million gallons of water into a parking lot.
Headlines
The Washington state Department of Ecology has lowered the dollar amount of the penalty that King County was assessed for sewer overflow violations earlier this year. Originally, King County was fined $46,000, but that amount was lowered to $39,500 after the penalty was recalculated by the state at King County’s request.
Work has begun in Duluth, Minnesota to address its sewer overflow problems by constructing a 1 million gallon tank at one of the Sanitary District’s pumping station.
Stimulus Spotlight
Officials in North Dakota today broke ground for a water treatment facility in Linton for the South Central Regional Water District. The project has received more than $21 million in federal stimulus grants and more than $7 million in federally backed loans.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District (Calif.) has decided to begin the second phase of a federally funded flood protection and habitat enhancement project on Lower Silver Creek in San Jose. The project, in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, has been awarded $18.5 million in federal economic stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Sewer Rate News
Buellton, California
Holmdel, New Jersey
Rome, Georgia
Superior, Wisconsin
August 10, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: Water Service Restored to 10,000 Homes in Suburban Baltimore
Water service was restored this morning for up to 10,0000 homes and businesses after a water main break in Essex, Maryland. The 12-inch main which broke is 80 years old and has had multiple breaks over the past year.
Headlines
Chattanooga (Tenn.) and the Moccasin Bend Sewage Treatment Plant are facing state sanctions for the spill Thursday and Friday of more than 100,000 gallons of raw sewage that swamped a marina and killed 3,600 fish.
Monday environmental, business, and civic leaders urged Congress to fund solutions for the sewage crisis in the Great Lakes region. Every year billions of gallons of untreated sewage is dumped into the Great Lakes.
Stimulus Spotlight
The Ohio Water Development Authority plans to sell $423 million in Build America Bonds tomorrow in the agency’s largest offering of the taxable debt. Proceeds from this week’s sale will reimburse the authority for about $148 million already loaned for environmental infrastructure in the state and fund further lending. Build America Bonds were created as part of the economic stimulus.
Many government agencies are close to wrapping up their federal stimulus initiatives, but a large number of communities are still waiting in line for funding or struggling to pay for costly water and sewer projects, according to United States Department of Agriculture officials.
Sewer Rate News
DeSoto County, Mississippi
Hamilton, New Jersey
Oswego, New York
Polk City, Florida
August 3, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: EPA Fines Five Pennslvania Sewage Plants
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued five separate fines for violations by Pennsylvania sewage treatment facilities across the state. The fines have reportedly been issued because these plants are failing to test water issued by industrial plants.
Headlines
The citizens of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin are furious with the town council after recent sewage backups soaked 700 homes. Residents claim the flooding happened because of the town’s poor sewage system, as these floods are a regular occurrence.
An electrical malfunction caused raw sewage to pour into West Fork Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The problem was spotted after dead fish began floating on the river’s surface.
Heavy rains in Duluth, Minnesota caused a 49,000 gallon mixture of sewage and rainwater to flow into Lake Superior.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, a combination of federal grants and low interest loans amounting to $668,000 dollars is going to help the town of Haledon, New Jersey reline 10,000 feet of sewage pipes.
Sewer Rate News
East Moline, Illinois
Mount Airy, North Carolina
North Ridgeville, Ohio
Poplarville, Mississippi
August 2, 2010
Monday’s Water News: Main Break Gushes 4 Million Gallons of Water in Bozeman, Montana
Residents in a Bozeman, Montana neighborhood watched in dismay from their muddied front lawns yesterday as cleanup crews, city workers and water-damage companies labored to repair a broken water main and clean up the mess left behind by 4 million gallons of water.
Headlines
Work crews in Troy, Ohio shut off part of the city’s water supply yesterday to repair a water main break. A boil advisory has been issued and will be in effect until Tuesday afternoon. The water main serves most of the western half of Troy.
A broken sewer line spewed nearly 15,000 gallons of untreated sewage in Arnold, Maryland on Sunday afternoon.
Starting next July, sewer rates for residents some residents in Richmond, California will go up 5 percent annually until July 2014. The rate increase will affect more than 16,000 single-family residential units and approximately 2,000 multifamily residential units and 2,000 commercial units. The increase in fees are needed to repair the system built in 1953.
Stimulus Spotlight
After more than a decade of planning, the construction work for $10.8 million upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant in Ferndale, California begins this week. The economic stimulus is financing 40 percent of the project with thanks to a $5 million federal loan with a 40-year repayment and a 2.375 percent fixed interest rate.
Sewer Rate News
Marco Island, Florida
Prescott Valley, Arizona
Princeton, New Jersey
Wellsburg, West Virginia
July 30, 2010
Friday’s Water News: Ohio EPA Investigates Milford’s Duck Creek
Ohio’s State Environmental Protection Agency is taking a close look at the town of Milford’s Duck Creek. The creek is a tributary to many others, so the problem is not an isolated one. Residents are reporting untreated or undertreated waste in the river, largely due to an aging wastewater infrastructure that leads to repeated overflows.
Headlines
The Town of Lee’s Summit, Missouri is being charged $60,000 dollars in penalties for sewage overflows in 2008 and 2009. One of these spills amounted to 100,000 gallons of sewage pouring into nearby Prairie Lee Lake.
A $101,000 dollar fine has been issued to the town of North Providence, Rhode Island because the federal Environmental Protection Agency has deemed the local drinking water unsafe.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, the town of Cambridge, Massachusetts is receiving $2 million dollar in low interest loans to repair its aging wastewater infrastructure system.
Sewer Rate News
Castleton, Vermont
Granville, Ohio
Macomb Township, Michigan
North Ridgeville, Ohio
Princeton Borough, New Jersey
July 26, 2010
Monday’s Water News: Allegheny County Communities Affected by Water Main Break
This morning was a rough one for many families and businesses in who lost water in several Allegheny County (Penn.) communities. Residents say the water main break is the third in as many days for the area. Once water service was restored some residents discovered they had to let their faucets run for a while.
Headlines
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati has finished a sewer system construction project in Green Township, which installed 3,750 feet of new sewer line and eliminated the need for several pump stations.
A water main break in Culpeper, Virginia sent over 300,000 gallons of water rushing down a main road in the residential district. The pipe that burst was only an 8-inch line, but the enormous pressure exacerbated the spill.
Stimulus Spotlight
The city of Chino Valley in Arizona has approved a new city budget on Friday night. The budget includes projects to restore water and other types of infrastructure and depends on up to $42.4 million in stimulus funds to accomplish these goals.
Over $11 million in federal stimulus funds have been granted to the city of Asbury Park, New Jersey. These funds will go to underground electric, sewer, and cable lines to improve services to the city’s residents.
Sewer Rate News
Decatur, Illinois
Irving, Texas
Louisville, Kentucky
Sarasota, Florida
South Bend, Indiana
July 23, 2010
Friday’s Water News: Old Sewage Pipes in Pittsburgh Hinder Development
In recent years, the gas industry has been booming in Pittsburgh. However, with the increasing development of infrastructure, it is becoming clear that the city’s 100 year old wastewater system cannot handle the new burdens of machinery and an increasing population. Sewage spills are on the rise as well as contamination in Pittsburgh’s water ways, officials say.
Headlines
A clogged pipe in Honolulu, Hawaii led to 3,250 gallons of sewage to spill into nearby Kalihi stream, which flows directly into Keehi Lagoon. The Hawaii Department of Health has been notified of the spill.
The city of Fort Worth, Texas, has been fined $7,550 dollars for accidentally spilling 72,000 gallons of sewage into Little Fossil Creek, killing hundreds of fish. This is the fourth wastewater accident in two years, officials say.
Public Works crews in Indianapolis worked to fix a water main early this morning after a break in the main caused flooding in one neighborhood. The break in the 40-year old main forced water to shoot in the air and flood an apartment complex parking lot.
Stimulus Spotlight
Thanks to the stimulus package, the town of Asbury Park, New Jersey is fixing it’s wastewater system. The project is going to cost $15 million dollars, which is being funded by low-interest stimulus loans.
Sewer Rate News
Charles Town, West Virginia
Longview, Texas
New Albany, Indiana
Santa Clarita, California
July 20, 2010
Tuesday’s Water News: Milwaukee Has Its Largest Sewer Overflow of 2010
Rainstorms in Milwaukee this weekend caused 506 million gallons of untreated wastewater to leak into local streams and Lake Michigan. The storm that caused the overflow produced over 5 inches of rain in just over a single day.
Headlines
A six-inch pipe burst in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday. The pipe ruptured in the early afternoon, causing traffic problems.
A sewage spill into Lake Cornelius resulted in a swimming ban being issued by officials in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. A small treatment facility leaked 375 gallons of sewage into a nearby lake in Davidson, North Carolina.
A four-inch water main ruptured in Narberth, Pennsylvania this afternoon leaving residents of an apartment complex without water. The age of the pipe is the suspected cause of the break.
Stimulus Spotlight
Using stimulus funds, the City of San Francisco is issuing $387 Build America Bonds. The interest on these bonds is covered by federal stimulus funds. The city plans to use the proceeds to fund numerous projects including water infrastructure improvement and repair.
Sewer Rate News
Blue Springs, Missouri
Caledonia, Minnesota
Eagle Lake, Florida
Roosevelt, New Jersey
July 19, 2010
Monday’s Water News: Cincinnati Area Needs $3.5 Billion to Fix Sewers
The cost to fix the sewer system Hamilton County, Ohio’s sewer system is estimated at $3.5 billion. The series of projects – which range from treatment plant upgrades to rain gardens – will take 20 years or more to finish. Fixing the problems in the 3,000-mile network of sewer pipes buried deep beneath the city of Cincinnati and its suburbs will by far be the most expensive infrastructure project in the region’s history.
Headlines
In San Antonio, Texas, a water main that supplies Rolling Oaks Mall and a nearby neighborhood broke early Sunday, spewing a fountain of water into the street.
Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania is taking action on a measure that should alleviate some of the pressure on the overburdened sewer lines in the area by beginning construction on a sewer bypass system.
Stimulus Spotlight
The new sewer plant project in La Salle, Illinois is now underway. The $15 million project is being funded through federal stimulus funds and grants; the plant will process over half a million gallons of water per day and offer the ability to increase this amount with the addition of more tanks.
Halifax County, Virginia is receiving nearly $16 million in stimulus funds for its multi-million dollar upgrade. The project received nearly $11 million in federal grants and a $5 million federal loan. Construction will last until 2013.
Sewer Rate News
East Moline, Iowa
Kinnelon, New Jersey
Ukiah, California
