Photo Courtesy of Missouri Coalition for the Environment This week we saw a positive development from the Missouri and federal governments when they jointly filed an enforcement action against the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD). The Missouri Coalition for the Environment has long felt that a schedule of remedies should be imposed on MSD to keep it on track as it cleans up the sewers in St. Louis.

You know a city's got serious sewage problems when the local sewer district consistently uses streams and rivers as a back up for its failing sewer systems. This is the case in St. Louis, where rain causes rampant sewage discharges from the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District's more than 500 Sewer Overflows (200 Combined Sewer Overflows and 300 Sanitary Sewer Overflows).

Two weeks ago I wrote about the one year anniversary of Hawaii's largest sewage spill. The spill that occurred over the course of six days in March 2006 dumped 48 million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai canal in Honolulu. The city has accepted responsibility for the cause of last year's spill but is fighting a lawsuit brought by a Waikiki surfer who suffered serious infections from surfing in the sewage laden waters off of Hilton Lagoon Beach.

Oahu's Seven "At Risk" Main Sewer Lines: Image Courtesy of Sierra Club Hawaii, 1000 Friends of Hawaii and Our Children's EarthGet out your party hats and thigh-high wading boots because it's time to "celebrate" the one year anniversary of Honolulu's worst raw sewage spill.

Over a six day period in March of last year, more than 48 million gallons of raw sewage were diverted directly in Ala Wai canal while the capital of the Aloha state received a record 40 days straight of rain.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is breaking our hearts. Time and time again, the agency has blown off deadlines for pollution cleanup, not by days, weeks or months -but by decades.

A scathing story in yesterday's Washington Post vilifies EPA as the ultimate scofflaw for its record of delays and lax enforcement.