Next time you smell the unmistakable stench of raw sewage, take a big wiff, its good for you. According to British researchers, the chemical gas known as Hydrogen Sulfide, the gas associated with the smell of sewage and rotten eggs, actually plays a role in regulating our blood pressure. Researchers say that H2S naturally produced in our bodies relaxes vascular tissues aiding in the smooth flow of blood.

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:

© XPRESS/Abdel-Krim KalloucheThere's dirty secret that permeates the oil and wealth of Dubai. According to the Xpress News, A Dubai newspaper, sewage tankers are circumventing regulations and long lines at sewage treatment plants by simply dumping loads of raw sewage into the streets and storm drains of the city. So far 50 tankers have been caught red handed and fined. Officials fear that this may only be the tip of the sand dune. Tanker driver's can make up to 2,000 dirhams ($544) per load. Illegally dumping can yield ten times that amount because drivers can get more loads per shift. They can dump full loads of raw sewage into the street in less than six minutes, as opposed to waiting in long lines at the treatment plant which can take hours.

Dubai is a rapidly growing city with enormous capital resources. It is a shame that it doesn't have the foresight to better develop its wastewater infrastructure more quickly. Hopefully regulators will get a hold of this and end a gross and dangerous practice. As for the tanker drivers, as my mother would say, ‘shame on you.'

Now the Spills of the Week:

It's been a tough week for streams, creeks, rivers, lakes and oceans thus adding to the unfortunate doom and gloom that pervades the Slog from week to week. For this week's ‘Spills' topper I could have used the story about poop falling from the sky in Chicago, sewage diving in Nebraska, or the story in New Orleans of 126 out of 188 inspected businesses are violating their sewage discharge permits and are dumping raw sewage directly into nearby ditches and creeks, or anyone of California's weekly and sometimes daily beach closures due to sewage leaks, runoff, bypasses, and pump failures. However, amongst the messy world of sewage news I found a very encouraging story from Minnesota that I'd like to share instead. According to the Star Tribune, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minneapolis has met its goal of "zero-discharge" into the Mississippi River. After years of infrastructure redevelopment and rigid enforcement of stringent storm water runoff diversion requirements, Minneapolis and St. Paul are seeing significant decreases in their discharges into the river. Beginning as far back as the 1960's, the city recognized that separation of storm water drains from the sanitary sewer systems was necessary to reduce wastewater pollution. Over the course of the last decade steady decreases in discharges have helped prove that the actions taken were working to reduce sewage pollution. The system isn't perfect but it is a step closer to keeping our communities safe from harmful pollutants. Congratulations to Minneapolis for having the foresight to act for a healthy river.

Now the Spills of the Week: