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.
11.11.08
Tuesday Headlines: Fort Wayne Looks for Ways to Pay for Sewer Improvements
A $240 million plan to keep raw sewage out of Fort Wayne, Indiana’s rivers would triple local sewer rates unless a new source of funding is created, and has led to a discussion of a half-cent increase in the local sales tax to pay for almost the entire project.
Headlines
As winter approaches, Mid-Michigan’s infrastructure is crumbling but financial help will be tough to come by. “There’s no question that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in communities across the state,” said Michigan DEQ spokesman Robert McCann.
In Pennsylvania, Meyersdale borough officials are beginning to dig into a pile of state-ordered sewer projects that cost about $1.4 million. “This is something just about every community is going through,” borough President Bud Edmunds said. “We are not unique.”
It looks like it will cost the City of Middletown, New York more to borrow money to repair its massive Sterling Street sewer problems. The city had hoped to secure an interest free loan but does not have sufficient points to qualify and may have to borrow money at a 4-4.5 percent interest rate to finance construction of the project.
Sewer Rate News
DuBois, Pennsylvania
Ottumwa, Iowa
Shelton, Washington
Wrightstown, Wisconsin
11.07.08
Friday Headlines: NYC Agrees to Bring Treatment Plants into Compliance
New York City has reached an agreement with the state of New York to bring its 14 wastewater treatment plants into compliance with environmental laws. The price tag to bring all the plants into compliance is expected to be in the billions. Steven W. Lawitts, the acting commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection commented on the situation stating:
The many components of this agreement highlight the challenges that cities around the country face in building costly and complex, but critically important, infrastructure
Headlines
Students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University were inconvenienced after a 6-inch water main on campus broke Thursday afternoon.
An equipment failure at a Long Island sewage treatment plant caused approximately 51,000 gallons to spill into a bay where shellfish beds were recently reopened.
About 90 homes in Baltimore County, Maryland were without water yesterday after a break in a 10-inch water main.
A main pipeline near Palatka, Florida’s water plant broke Wednesday night, leaving the city without water for several hours and a boil-order through at least today. “An aging infrastructure can cause these types of mishaps,” said City Manager Woody Boynton.
Sewer Rate News
Bath, Maine
Phoenix, Arizona
11.05.08
Wednesday Headlines: Ballot Initiatives for Water Infrastructure Pass in 3 States
Measures were on the ballot in three states yesterday to increase investments in water and wastewater infrastructure.
In the Keystone state, Pennsylvanians voted overwhelmingly to adopt the only statewide measure on the ballot yesterday, allowing state leaders to borrow $400 million for water and sewer improvements. An estimated 2,200 drinking water systems and 1,060 wastewater systems in the state must spend an estimated $20 billion to meet federal and state clean water standards.
In the third referendum question on Maine’s ballot Tuesday, voters authorized a $3.4 million bond issue for drinking water programs and construction of wastewater treatment facilities.
And in Arkansas, voters approved a measure that will allow up to $300 million in bonds to be issued for water projects around the state.
11.03.08
Monday Headlines: Providence Nears Completion of CSO Separation
The $359-million project to solve much of Rhode Island’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) problem is finally complete. Construction included drilling through solid rock 300 feet under downtown Providence. It has been the biggest, and longest-running, public works project in state history. The city’s CSO problems began more than 100 years ago, when city officials chose to combine the city’s storm water sewer lines with their new sanitary sewer lines.
Headlines
A number of streets are closed in Troy, New York after an apparent water main break flooded the downtown area.
Several homes in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia were flooded and had to be evacuated after a 30-inch main broke causing thousands of gallons of water to pour into the street.
Sewer Rate News
Lathrop, California
Laurel, Mississippi
10.31.08
Friday Headlines: Investigative Report Looks at Indianapolis Sewer System
Indianapolis TV station WTHR has done an investigation into the amount of untreated sewage entering Marion County’s waterways. As you might imagine the report raises questions and concerns regarding how to get the problem under control. And if you were wondering whether federal funding is needed for cities like Indianapolis here is this quote from the story.
To pay for the deep tunnels and other improvements that will help reduce Indianapolis’ combined sewer overflows, the cost is an estimated $3.5 billion.
For Marion County residents, it means the average $15 sewer portion of a current water bill is expected to jump to $100 each month.
And here’s an eye opening statistic.
All together, about 40 billion gallons of combined sewer overflow are dumped into Indiana waterways each year.
10.28.08
Tuesday Headlines: Redding, California Permanently Shuts of Water Main
The water main that blew a muddy geyser through the pavement of a road in Redding, California on Sunday will be permanently shut off. In August, the same 18-inch diameter pipe ruptured beneath a lawn on a high school campus.
Headlines
The people who live next to the sewage pump station in Hermitage, Pennsylvania where about 500,000 gallons of backed-up sewage leaked into the Shenango River earlier this month wanted answers Monday when they went to a meeting of the board that oversees the sewage system.
A water main break closed the eastbound lanes of busy thuroughfare in Denver early this morning. A 12-inch main broke at about 3:15 a.m. this morning and forced repair crews to close the busy road.
City crews in Kingston, New York, worked Monday to repair a sewer line that burst not far from the site of a 2004 collapse that sent raw sewage into the streets and front lawns. The sewer line which broke was about 100 years old.
Some Boulder, Colorado residents were without water Monday afternoon because of a main break. Drivers experienced detours and delays as an intersection was closed to repair the main.
Sewer Rate News
Clinton, Iowa
Menasha, Wisconsin
Rapid City, South Dakota
Sparta, Michigan
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
10.21.08
Tuesday Headlines: Climate Change May Cause Heavier Rainfalls, More Overflows
A Washington Post story tackles the issue of climate change and how it may lead to significant increases in waterborne diseases around the world. The story suggests the nation’s water infrastructure may not be up to the challenge as heavier rainfalls may trigger sewage overflows, contaminating drinking water and endangering beachgoers.
The story also includes a national map (found here) illustrating the pervasiveness of waterborn diseases.
Headlines
In Brooklyn, New York, the stench of raw sewage in the Gowanus Canal may get worse before it gets any better. To repair the flushing tunnel the city must turn it off for two years as part of a $300-million cleanup. To compensate for the soon-to-be deactivated flushing tunnel, the city will attempt to reduce the amount of untreated waste that lingers in the canal when heavy rains overflow the aging sewers.
Ensuring the water keeps coming in and the sewage keeps flowing out is going to cost residents in the Buffalo suburb of Tonawanda $3 million over the next few years. Councilman Joe Emminger acknowledged the high cost, but said investing early will benefit the town, especially since there appears to be little to no relief coming from state or federal levels.
Sewer Rate News
Grand Haven, Michigan
Oldham County, Kentucky
Rolla, Missouri
Rome, Georgia
