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
10.02.08
Thursday Headlines: California Issues $1.7 Mil in Fines for Sewage Discharges
In California, San Mateo, Hillsborough and the county-run Crystal Springs sanitation districts must collectively pay more than $1.7 million in fines to a regional enforcement agency for discharging raw sewage into streets, creeks and San Francisco Bay in violation of the Clean Water Act. In addition to the fines, the staff of the Regional Water Board is asking board members to approve a collective “cease-and-desist order” that would impose long-term requirements on each sanitation district to do better monitoring of pipeline leaks and come up with lasting solutions.
Headlines
Scientists for the state of Rhode Island are working to find out what is causing the high amounts of fecal coliform bacteria turning up in the Kickemuit River. The cause of the bacteria is unknown, however, there is a correlation between river bacteria and nearby storm drain bacteria, leading scientists to think polluted storm drain runoff is the cause of the river contamination.
In Chicopee, Massachusetts, 45 people met Wednesday night with city officials and design engineers about a combined sewer overflow problem which has particularly plagued the Lorraine and Stedman streets area. The city has $180 million worth of combined sewer overflow work it needs to separate over a 20-year period.
A large water main break in Shelton, Connecticut Wednesday evening, left 75 businesses and condominiums along a busy street without water.
Sewer Rate News
Belleview, Florida
Rochester, Michigan
08.20.08
Wednesday Headlines: Honolulu Found Liable for 297 violations in Sewage Spills
A federal judge has found the city of Honolulu, Hawaii liable for 297 violations of the federal Clean Water Act for discharging millions of gallons of sewage into streets, streams, homes and waterways over nine years. The judge’s order comes 10 months after ruling the city violated a federal wastewater discharge permit 4,013 times by failing to meet construction schedules for two key projects.
Headlines
In Newport Bay, California, a portion of Newport Bay was closed Tuesday afternoon after a sewage spill near Bayshore beach. The spill was caused by a sewer line that backed up from a rehabilitation hospital.
What was that story yesterday about Syracuse, New York having old water infrastructure? This morning, a water main break outside Crouse Hospital in Syracuse has flooded lower levels of the building and forced at least 12 surgeries to be postponed.
Water service was restored Tuesday afternoon to several residences and businesses in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania after a more than 17-hour interruption. The borough issued a boil advisory Tuesday morning “until further notice” as a result of the water main break.
Repairs have been made to a water main break in Kingston, Rhode Island after a cast iron 8-inch main that dated to 1884 cracked, closing down a one-block area.
Sewer Rate News
Lehigh Acres, Florida
Lewisville, Texas
Victoria, Texas
West Mahanoy Township, Pennsylvania
06.24.08
Tuesday Headlines: Sinkhole Swallows Minivan in Rhode Island
A water main break Monday night in West Warwick, Rhode Island is the likely cause of a sinkhole that nearly swallowed up a minivan. (photo courtesy of WJAR-TV)
Headlines
The city of McComb will be receiving a $34 million loan from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to construct a wastewater treatment facility.
In Louisiana, Saint Charles Parish’s east bank water system needs more capacity because its 4 million-gallon-per-day workhorse treatment plant is in poor shape and can’t be shut down for an overhaul without causing a severe water shortage.
Rep. Phil English (R-Penn.) is pushing new legislation that would make it easier for state and local governments to get funding for water-related infrastructure projects. H.R. 6194, the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act, would lift the state cap on what are known as private activity bonds, a type of tax-exempt financing used on public projects.
Sewer Rate News
Hartland Township, Michigan
Hazelton, Pennsylvania
Mokena, Illinois
Sammanish, Washington
03.12.08
Wednesday Headlines: Plan in GA to Create Local Water Authorities is Tabled
A proposal in Georgia that would allow local governments to create water and sewer authorities has been tabled by the state legislature. Supporters of the plan viewed it as a way for communities to address their water and sewer systems, while critics were concerned it may hurt Atlanta’s $3 billion plan to update is sewer system.
Headlines
The Town of Bristol, Rhode Island will pay a $75,000 civil penalty to settle clean water charges related to its sewage overflow problem
A follow up from the AP story about drugs in the water that was released on Monday. Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois, has ordered the state’s environmental agency to begin screening waterways for pharmaceuticals and to promote safer disposal of medicines
