Do you remember the e coli outbreak on the bagged spinach back in September - upon getting reports of the tainted veggies, the FDA immediately and rightly issued a warning not to eat the spinach because it was dicey for our health. Similarly, I know that it's unsafe for me to go running outside during the summer when the air pollution alert is orange or red.

Why is it then that if I live in most places, I don't know when there's raw sewage in my local creek? Raw sewage causes all kinds of sicknesses and infections and yet there's not a consistent nationwide requirement that sewage treatment plants tell you when they spill into your stream or river.

As usual, some states are already ahead of the feds on this one and have some really good laws on the books. But in other states people swim in sewage without knowing it showing why we really need strong federal law that will require some consistent, sewage spill notification basics for the entire country. Because we all have a fundamental right to know what's in our environment so we can make the best choices for our health, we're working for new legislation that would require a publicly owned treatment works to:

• Monitor their systems so that they know when there is a spill;
• Notify the public, public health agencies, and downstream drinking water intakes when there is a spill that could affect them; and
• Report the total number of spills and the total volume every year.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the past, but now is the time to make this happen. While we will still need better enforcement, more money for better treatment technology and other solutions to reduce sewage, sewage right to know is a critical part of this process.

Remember, Popeye doesn't have to eat sick spinach, so why should we have to swim in raw sewage?