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
11.25.08
Tuesday Headlines: Tulsa on Pace for Sewage Spill Record
This year three sewage spills in Tulsa County, Oklahoma has accounted for about half of the 53 million gallons leaked this year and has put the county on pace to record its largest amount of spilled sewage since the state has tracked unpermitted discharges. During those three incidents, an estimated 25 million spilled from sanitary sewer systems in Tulsa County.
Headlines
For the second time in November, work crews in eastern North Carolina are cleaning up a sewage spill after 60,000 gallons spilled on Monday. Only 10,000 gallons of sewage contacted state waters—which occured when the sewage flowed into some roadside ditches.
A pump station failure has caused a large discharge of raw sewage in Waldorf, Maryland. Officials estimate that over 10,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into a stream near the pumping station, and they are advising the public to avoid contact with the water in that stream.
In Del Mar, California, an area around the San Dieguito River outlet is unsafe for recreation after a 8,090-gallon sewage spill Monday.
Gravel and debris combined to block a portion of Cary North Carolina’s sanitary sewer system resulting in a spill discovered on Sunday. An estimated 3,499 gallons of untreated waste escaped from a manhole and reached an unknown tributary of Crabtree Creek.
Sewer Rate News
Dubuque, Iowa
Lacey Township, New Jersey
Leominster, Massachusetts
Salem, Oregon
That’s it until Monday. Have a happy Thanksgiving.
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
11.05.08
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.
09.25.08
Thursday Headlines: Pipe Break Leads to 25 Foot Sinkhole in West Chester, Penn.
A 12-foot-deep sinkhole opened up in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Wednesday after a broken stormwater main caused saturated soils to collapse. Workers with the borough’s Public Works Department called in a pipeline construction company to handle the emergency after the sinkhole expanded to 25 feet long by 12 feet across.
Headlines
In Maryland, Anne Arundel County health officials have ordered Bear Neck Creek in Edgewater closed and warn against direct contact with the water. The closure was ordered because of a wastewater overflow Wednesday in a nearby sewer collection system.
Michigan’s environmental chief warned the Detroit City Council on Wednesday that continued delays in approving a $600-million tunnel system to store sewage and storm runoff during heavy rain could cost ratepayers an extra $100 million in interest on construction bonds and put the city in violation of its water pollution permit.
Roughly 21,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Pinehurst Lake on Tuesday after a force main broke in Carthage, North Carolina.
Crews in Colorado Springs, Colorado are working to divert the water in Sand Creek away from a bank that has been badly eroded by recent storms, coming dangerously close to exposing a sewage pipe. Since 2000, Colorado Springs Utilities has spent $100 million dollars on their wastewater collection system.
Sewer Rate News
Camp Verde, Arizona
Colfax, California
Shafer, Minnesota
Sheffield, Alabama
09.10.08
Wednesday Headlines: Ellwood City, Penn. Deals with Huge Sinkhole
Engineers will meet with Ellwood City, Pennsylvania officials this week to determine how to deal with an enormous sinkhole. The sinkhole, approximately 10 feet wide by 70 feet long, occurred less than two weeks ago along a stormwater drainage line.
Water leaked out of the 100-foot-long pipe, which carries water out of the borough’s storm system down to Connoquenessing Creek, and eroded the ground, creating the sinkhole.
Headlines
In Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Township board of commissioners and the Elizabeth Township Sanitary Authority have approved their end of a consent agreement with the Allegheny County Health Department to remedy sewage overflow problems at a sewage treatment plant.
A second grease buildup for Greenville, North Carolina in as many days sent more sewage into the Tar River on Monday night. “Grease is the major cause of problems we find in sewer lines,” said Troy Perkins, the city’s water/sewer systems superintendent. “The best way to prevent sewer spills is to never pour grease down the drain.”
All classes at Tarrant County College’s Northeast Campus in Hurst, Texas have been cancelled for today after a major water main break near campus.
The break of a 20-inch water main in Arlington, Virginia affected service to 100 homes, disrupted traffic and rerouted a local bus.
Some south Snohomish County, Washington residents were advised to boil their tap water after a water main broke early Tuesday. When water outages occur, certain bacteria may contaminate water systems, posing a health risk to young children and people with weakened immune systems, hence the need to boil water.
Sewer Rate News
Beaumont, Texas
Bedford, Indiana
Milford, Massachusetts
Tuscola, Illinois
09.09.08
Tuesday Headlines: Hanna Causes Sewer Overflows in N.C. Community
Tropical Storm Hanna’s heavy rains, measured at 6.08 inches in Dunn, North Carolina, caused wastewater to overflow in three places, spilling the untreated water into waterways. Sewage spills has long been an issue in Dunn with the town ranking in the state’s top 10 for the problem.
Headlines
The decision of the City Council in Holyoke, Massachusetts not to raise sewer rates will likely result in taxpayers footing the bill for any additional related sewer costs. The increase is needed to help pay off $6 million in debt for a sewage treatment plant and $3 million for a combined sewer overflow abatement project.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation after originally saying repairs to a major street in Columbia, South Carolina would be finished by Saturday are still working on the repairs. Authorities blame a collapsed storm drain as the cause of the sinkhole.
The state of Michigan has threatened Harrisburg Township with penalties for not meeting limits on phosphorus and other substances in the discharge. The improvements required by the state will cost millions of dollars and is forcing the township to increase its sewer rates.
A water main break flooded a residential street in Castaic, California this morning, causing the street to buckle and leaving residents in some 60 homes without access to the roadway.
Sewer Rate News
Branson, Missouri
Riviera, Alabama
09.03.08
Wednesday Headlines: Commission Seeks $12 mil for 22 Mo. Communities
The Clarence Cannon Wholesale Water Commission is seeking approval from the 22 communities it serves in Eastern Missouri to apply for a loan up to $12 million to expand service and make major infrastructure improvements. Financing for the project would likely come from a state grant and its revolving loan fund.
Headlines
Taxpayers in Bardstown, Kentucky and nearly 20 other cities in the commonwealth are being forced to spend millions of dollars to correct problems with sewer overflows. Bardstown’s mayor says the city has begun building a new two mile long, $4 million dollar sewer line to help alleviate the problem and realizes they’ll have to spend more:
Roots that grew into a sewer line behind Gardner-Webb University are blamed for an untreated wastewater spill in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Town officials reported Tuesday that out of the 4,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled, 3,000 gallons made their way to an unnamed area creek near campus.
After a delay of about 10 years, the city council of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania was told yesterday that the time to solve the sewage-stormwater overflow problem has arrived.
Flooding that has plagued homeowners in a Perrysburg, Ohio subdivision should be alleviated with planned sewer repairs approved by the city council, which authorizes $66,000 worth of repairs to the underground sanitary sewer system within the subdivision.
Sewer Rate News
Bandera, Texas
North Lewisburg, Ohio
08.11.08
Monday Headlines: Heavy Rains Cause Sewer Backup in Albany
Heavy rain in Albany, New York flooded homes and streets with a combination of storm water and sewage on Thursday. Albany, like many older cities, suffers from sewer overflows due to the age of its infrastructure. Here’s a direct quote from the story:
Albany, like many older cities, has a sewer system — dating, in some places, to the Civil War — that combines storm water and sewage, hurtling it beneath the city to a treatment plant and the Hudson River.
Headlines
In today’s Buffalo News, environmental consultant Daniel Bentivogli pens an op-ed on the need for increased investment in water infrastructure. In March, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a report citing $36.2 billion of water infrastructure investment is needed over the next 20 years.
In California, a blocked sewer pipe in Sausalito sent sewage spilling into San Francisco Bay on Sunday, the third major spill this year. The spill was caused by a blockage in a pipe at a pump station. In January, two spills dumped 5 million gallons of sewage into Richardson Bay. The winter spills were the result of strong rainstorms overcoming the sewer system.
The construction of a desalination plant and water treatment center in Swansea, Massachusetts is months ahead of schedule, and those residents who have long complained about colored drinking water may see relief as early as January.
Sewer Rate News
Belleview, Florida
Mount Olive, North Carolina
Palestine, Texas
07.25.08
Friday Headlines: KC Gets Extension for Sewer System Plan
Kansas City has received a six-month extension to submit its plan to federal authorities for overhauling its sewer system. The city wanted the extension from the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in order to incorporate more “green” solutions in its sewer pollution problems.
Headlines
In Novato, California, clean up has begun on a sewage spill that came out of a manhole and went into a storm drain that empties into Novato Creek. A grease blockage caused the sewer backup.
Wichita Water Department workers worked into the night repairing three water main breaks that were impeding traffic and disrupting service to several homes.
Many residents in the Heights section of Houston were without water after a water main break. The water main break created a sinkhole that was nearly 10 feet deep, that a garbage truck struck, rupturing the truck’s oil pan and spilling oil all over the road.
In North Carolina, the North Coast Regional Water Board has fined the Fort Bragg Municipal Improvement District for “discharges of partially treated and untreated wastewater from its sanitary sewer system.”
Sewer Rate News
Gloucester, Pennsylvania
Hamilton County, Tennessee
Manteca, California
