Here's a little Gem for the Slog from the Picayune Item in Picayune, MS. This story is just unbelievable.

Photo by Jeremy Pittari for the Picayune ItemPICAYUNE — A faulty waste water treatment plant in Westchester Subdivision is failing to properly treat waste water that is eventually fed into Hobolochitto Creek.

An article appearing in today's Examiner, here in DC, features Act for Healthy Rivers supporter Shenandoah Riverkeeper, Jeff Kelble . The article follows up on a story the Slog covered in brief a couple weeks ago. Here's the full story from the Examiner:

A group of environmental advocates is suing Virginia over a decision it says allows a sewage plant to continue polluting waters that flow into the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay.

The discharge from the North Fork Modular Reclamation and Reuse Facility was considered so harmful that a Rockingham County judge in February deemed it "a substantial threat to public health and the environment" and ordered the owner to install millions of dollars' worth of new control measures.

A man who was accused of trying to bribe a New York City environmental inspector was sentenced to three years probation today. James Dimopoulos, 51, received the sentence in Westchester County Court in White Plains for attempting to bribe NYC environmental officials to over look that his restaurant, the Bedford Diner, has been leaching sewage in the town's water supply. It sounds like Jimmy might have been drinking that water if he thought he could pay his way out of poisoning his neighbors.

And now for the REST of the Spills of the Week...

Photo by SASHere is some righteous good news from the UK. "Surfzombies" rose from the sea Wednesday to lobby local civic leaders in the States of Guernsey to invest in a new permanent full sewage treatment facility. The zombie surfers came within three votes of success but were defeated by proponents of the status quo pump and dump treatment strategy. Currently, the island community dumps raw sewage from nearly 60,000 residents directly into the sea. With one of the richest per capita populations in the West, Guernsey has a waste disposal methods on par with those found in the developing world nations. The Surfzombie activists plan to influence the leaders of Guernsey to clean up their act by raising awareness of this disgusting problem particular with respect to its impacts on tourism and more political will.

Now the Spills of the Week:

Let's face it, the task of public relations for a sewer operator can't be the easiest job in the world. The job they do to keep "stuff" out of our waters is largely unappreciated and they end up putting said "stuff" in the water, either by design or by accident we are appalled and grossed out. I get the feeling that Kevin Cowan, Sewer Manager for the North Davis Sewer District in Utah, understands the juxtaposition his job puts him in.

When Cowan gives visitors tours of the facility he hands them a bottle of water that looks perfectly clear... Then you read the ingredients. "Water, fecal matter, toilet paper, hair, lint, rancid grease, stomach acid and trace amounts of Pepto Bismol, chocolate, urine, body oils, dead skin, industrial chemicals."

The specially labeled bottle of waters are being to reach out to the public to raise awareness about water quality, the important role sanitation systems play in our society and to remind us that everything we dump down the drain may end up in our precious natural water resources.

Now for the Spills of the Week: