I was getting into my boat at the put-in the other day and I caught the deep, sharp and unmistakable smell of sewage. This is not typcally the case for the section of river I run, however lately it's become all too common a scene, especially in the spring. Here in the mid-Atlantic, we've been getting some much needed precipitation and I'm not complaining about the rain one bit. Afterall, it's spring rain that help the season come into its own and helps recharge our groundwater sources. But with the good comes the bad. Spring rains wash the wintry litter of salt, sand, cinder and auto residues from our roads and other paved surfaces into sewer systems that empty into our rivers and streams, and stormwater is rarely treated. 

I don't think we covered this spill in Arcade Creek Sacramento, CA a month or so, but KCRA 3 News film crews caught some pretty dramatic video what a sewer main breach looks like. be

And now the Spills of the Week:

Week of Feb. 22

A McDonald's in Birmingham England had to close this week after a sewage pipe burst into the restaurant and play area. According to anonymous sources, "The sewage exploded out of the pipe and down into the party area. There's been a smell of rotten cabbage for about two weeks and staff were leaving doors open, not knowing what the problem was." The restaurant claims to have thoroughly cleaned the play area and eatery and is now again open to serve the highest quality food at the lowest possible price. I'm lobin' it!!!

And Now the Spills of the Week:

San Francisco has had a rough week, with nearly six million gallons of sewage seeping in the bay. But it's been a big week all over the country. San Diego has kept it real by dumping more than 100,000 gallons onto its beaches. Florida seems to want to keep up with similar numbers into the heavily used St. Johns River. And in the DC suburbs, a screw up in Prince George's County dumped nearly five and a half million gallons of raw sewage into a major Potomac River (and Chesapeake Bay) tributary (see below). With all of the rain in the Midwest, I'm not even going to speculate what a troubled week it has been. It's weeks like this that reinforce our "Right to Know" what's in our streams, rivers and lakes. Contact your local and federal legislators and tell them you want them to Act for a Healthy Rivers by passing the Sewage Overflow Community Right ot Know Act.

And now the Spills of the Week:

In late January 2008 , heavy rains and operator error caused a huge sewage overflow of sewage at a treatment plant in Marin County. More than 2.5 gallons of only partially sewage spilled out of the plant and into Corte Madera Creek which flows into Richardson Bay. Unfortunately, this is the second spill to occur in one week. Only five days earlier, the same sewage treatment plant discharged another 2.5 million gallons of sewage after having been overwhelmed by heavy rains.

The impact of these spills is unquestionable. Richardson Bay supports steelhead salmon population and Richardson Bay is home to one of the largest eelgrass beds in the Bay as well as populations of native oysters, herring, endangered clapper rails, and endangered salt marsh harvest mice.

Ryan Severn of Seattle takes dedication to a whole new level. Last week while Ryan and his wife, Ann, were cleaning an office building, Ann accidentally dropped her wedding band down in to a sewer. Not just a sewer pipe, but a full on vat of sewage. Ryan, seeing that his wife was very upset at losing their symbol of matrimony, dove into the sewer and starting searching for the ring in the sewage! "I strip down in underwear," he said, "and went in." Unsuccessful, Ryan left and immediately bought a wetsuit, came back and gave it another go with a handmade strainer. Yet again, he was unsuccessful. So, being the committed husband, he hired professionals to drain the cesspool, sift through the slimy mess and sure enough he found the ring!!! That takes a level of commitment that is hard to find. Amazing and impressive.

And now the Spills of the Week:

As it appeared in yesterday's Baltimore Sun:

Sometimes good news still stinks ("Md. sewage spills have ebbed with drought," Jan. 2).

One case in point: When the Maryland Department of the Environment reports that only 24 million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into our rivers and streams between January and September of last year, that was a lot better than the 352 million gallons that spilled in 2003, but still enough sewage to fill 40 Olympic-size swimming pools.

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:

In the Finnish town of Nokia, thousands of people have fallen ill due to accidental contamination of their water source. According to AFP World News, a sewage treatment plant worker mistakenly opened a valve allowing treated sewage to flow into the town's water supply. Thousands of citizens have complained of diarrhea and vomiting. The situation seems to be under control, but not after exposing the entire town to potentially serious illness. The water had been treated and was supposed to be released into a nearby river. This incident and the 1193 Milwaukee Crypto outbreak are perfect example of just how harmful untreated sewage. Hopefully, public health scares like these lead to better understanding on why raw and partially treated sewage in our water sources is probably not a good idea!

And now the spills of the week!!

With all the problems Milwaukee has with sewage the last thing they need are drunk drivers crashing into sewage treatment plants. Amanda Berth of Sheboygan, WI is real lucky that when she drove her car through a security fence and crashed into the Sheboygan Wastewaster Treatment Plant that all she suffered was a concussion and a broken leg. After all, her accident could've put her on the list below.

Now for the Spills of the week: