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. 

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:

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: