The New Year is here but we're still dealing with leftovers. Put another way, "Yule" never believe what scientists are finding in sewage: a spike in festive spices during the holiday season.

Researchers at the University of Washington used sophisticated laboratory equipment to test treated sewage headed from Seattle-area wastewater treatment plants straight to Puget Sound. They found rising levels of cinnamon, vanilla and artificial vanilla, likely from holiday baked goods consumed by people over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Not surprising, perhaps, since what goes down must come out - then that discharge flows down the drain, through the pipe and finally downstream.

This somewhat lighthearted experiment raises serious questions about the impacts of substance-laced sewage on fish that rely heavily on smell to locate food and, in the case of salmon, to find their way back upstream to spawn. If spices are a concern, then what about more harmful substances - pesticides, chemicals, pharmaceuticals - that pass through people's bodies and then get flushed into our waterways?

Now on to the sewage Spills O' the Week:

Sorry, sailors - The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board released documents about the sewage spill at the San Diego Naval Base discovered last November. Over the past two years 14.2 million gallons of raw sewage from a base barracks were dumped into Chollas Creek, which drains into San Diego Bay. The documents confirmed that an improperly connected pipe was the cause of the spill.

-San Diego Union-Tribune, December 29, 2006

Coming up the downspout: Austin residents were warned to avoid contact with East Bouldin Creek after a clogged sewer pipe forced 80,000 gallons of sewage out a manhole and into the stream.

-Austin American-Statesman, December 29, 2006

Oops, all rooms are suddenly full - Local health officials in New Jersey closed Del's Motel after sewage overflowed into the building.

-Asbury Park Press, December 30, 2006

Don't ask, don't tell - Heavy rains caused a sewer overflow in Adrian, Michigan. Although health officials were notified, news of the spill didn't appear in papers until three days later. As the story reported, such delayed notification makes it difficult for health officials to take actions to protect public health.

-The Daily Telegram, January 3, 2006

Another no-no on the Nuese - Two sewer spills leaked about 11,000 gallons of untreated sewage into North Carolina's Neuse River. State officials are considering a moratorium on the extension of sewer lines into new areas of the New Bern sewer system because of excessive spills.

-The New Bern Sun Journal, January 4, 2006