After more than 90 years trout and salmon in the River Ely in Wales England were able to spawn due to the water quality improvements. Unfortunately, last week so much raw sewage was dumped into the river that all of the mature and spawning fish were all killed. Construction worker Greg Davies , 31, of Tonyrefail said: "The outlet has been pumping litres and litres of stinking raw sewage straight into the Ely since Friday killing every single thing in it. It's wiped out every living thing in the river from fish to insect life which is a tragedy when you consider the river has only just cleaned up enough to attract trout and salmon par back here after 90 years. I counted over 560 fish suffocated to death in the poisoned water. We couldn't save any of them. We couldn't rouse anyone to tackle it until Sunday and then only because the Ely runs through the grounds of the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. It has taken six years to restore the river since the closure of the paper mill and the removal of the weirs and now this - it's an environmental and public health disaster for the river." Another example of a sad and disppointing opportunity lost.

And Now the Spills of the Week:

Some in Washington think that reinvesting in our sewage and storm water infrastructure might be throwing good money down the toilet. In Israel this week some one really did flush good money down the drain. According to the Associated Press, workers at the sewage treatment facility in Tiberias found roughly $2,000 floating in and amongst the solids and toilet paper. The workers called the police, who at first didn't believe them. When the supervisor at the facility insisted, the police came and fished the dirty cash from the stinky stew. Police can only speculate, but they think it might be the result of a domestic disturbance. Now that really is flushing money down the drain!

And Now the Spills of the Week:

Great Falls - just outside of DCFlowing through the nation's capital, the Potomac River is no longer safe for swimming in too many of its reaches and is polluted by nutrients, bacteria, heavy metals, and hormone-disrupting chemicals. Fish kills in the Shenandoah have killed up to 80% of the adult smallmouth bass and redbreast sunfish population in one year and intersex fish are now found regularly.

The Potomac Riverkeeper is dedicated to protecting and restoring water quality in the Potomac River and its tributaries through community action and enforcement. One main way we work is to focus on enforcing the Clean Water Act and making sure that all of the 235 dischargers into the Potomac and its tributaries are in compliance with the law.