Editors Note: Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. SOW will return to it's Friday posting on the 7th. - JK

A Kentucky man, David Bowling, was fined more than $260,000 and sentenced to a year in prison for dumping raw sewage into the Big Sandy River, in Kentucky. Bowling, who owned and operated Dave's Concrete Products and Septic Service was caught in December 2006 taking his septic truck labeled "water" and emptying thousands of gallons of raw sewage into the Big Sandy. It either takes complete idiocy or complete disregard for your community to pull a stunt like that.

Blatant disrespect for the law, our communities and the health and prosperity of our children, neighbors and families is just plain wrong. Here's your sign... Bowling!!

And now the Spills of the Week:

Wishy Washy: 250-gallon spill of untreated sewage washed up on Dillon Beach last week, some of which flowed into the ocean from a damaged pipeline in Marin County on Monday, authorities said. Following the spill, a section of Dillon Beach was closed to the public for cleanup and testing, North Marin Water District General Manager Chris DeGabriele said. A tree root apparently separated the joint in a section of sewage pipeline.
- February 23, 2008: Times-Herald, American Canyon, CA

Effluent Inundation: An apparent problem with utility pipes caused 1,000 gallons of raw sewage to back up into some homes in Seminole County, FL. The sewage problem was reported on Beckstom Circle in Seminole on Sunday. At least three homes were inundated with raw sewage and evacuated. Utility crews used GIANT vacuums to clean the mess.
- February 25, 2008: Local6.com, Orlando, FL

Sunday Downtown Parade: About 6,000 gallons of raw sewage paraded into downtown San Rafael Sunday after wads of industrial paper towels and rivers of rainwater combined to overwhelm the system, city sanitation officials said. "It is the largest spill we've had in the history of the district," San Rafael Sanitation District Administrator Andy Preston said Monday. "It is significant for us." A 15-inch sewer pipe overflowed at Fifth Avenue and Hetherton Street at about 11 a.m., sending about half the sewage into a drainage channel, which connects to the San Rafael Canal, which empties into San Pablo Bay. Crews captured about 3,000 gallons using a special truck to suck up the sewage that spewed into a catch basin.
- February 26, 2008: marinij.com, Novato, CA

Your Scarin' Me Marin: As much as 8,000 gallons of sewage spilled from a blocked pipe into Corte Madera Creek Sunday morning but officials from the local Sanitary District didn't find out about the spill until Monday. An official said their "highest" estimate was 7,000 to 8,000 gallons. It is thought paper and rags may have blocked a pipe running through the Ross Valley community of Sleepy Hollow, causing the spill. "This demonstrates the need for the sanitary district to accelerate its program for repairing and replacing old, damaged sewers and work with property owners on fixing leaking laterals," said Sandy Guldman, president of the Friends of the Corte Madera Creek Watershed.
- February 27, 2008: marinij.com, Novato, CA

Clammmering -Between 2,000 and 4,000 gallons of raw sewage oozed from a sewer line into Pequotsepos Cove early Sunday forcing the Shellfish Commission to close several shellfish areas. According to Harold Storrs, director of the Water Pollution Control Authority, the leak came from a pipe that hangs under a bridge over the cove and carries sewage from one treatment plant to another. Storrs said it unknown yet what happened to the approximately 15-year-old pipe. I can only guess....ITS OLD!
- February 25, 2008: TheDay.com, New London, CT

Uh...Snow Melts Fast...in MI-An overflow of a storage lagoon at the township's sanitary sewer facility for Big Pine Island Lake caused 72,648 gallons of partially treated sewage to empty into nearby Hart Lake. Marc Middlestadt, licensed operator for Sierra Consultants, which operates the system for Grattan Township, said the spill was a result of melting snow (That's New!!). The overflow began Feb. 24 and was stopped Wednesday. Middlestadt said that snow melts so fast in the middle of winter in Michigan that they just couldn't stop it in four days.
- February 28, 2008: mlive.com, Grand Rapids, MI