After nearly 13 months of legal deliberation, Jeff Kelble, the Shenandoah Riverkeeper, and the VA Attorney General finally succeeded in forcing the sale of the SIL Clean Water, LLC North Fork Modular Reclamation and Reuse Facility, in Rockingham Jeff Kelble: Shenandoah RiverkeeperCounty, Virginia. The charges against SIL included violating the discharge limitations in the permit as to total phosphorus, total nitrogen, ammonia, fecal coliform, biochemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids on numerous occasions. The exact scope of the damage SIL has done to the Shenandoah River is unknown. With the source of the massive fish kills in the past unresolved, containing this problem is one step closer to understanding the dynamic issues plaguing the Shenandoah. We commend Jeff, the VA Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Attorney General for pressing for the just resolution of this blatant disrespect of our communities and resources. Keep up the good work.

Now the Spills of the Week:

That's not Bathtub Gin!: Sewer problems at a local apartment building have some residents furious. Tenants at the Wishing Well Complex in Atlanta say the conditions are just filthy. Raw sewage frequently bubbles up into the bathtubs. One resident says this is not the first time apartments have flooded with sewage. Benita Jones said "We've been having this problem like three times this month. Sewer water has come up and they always get the same response. It takes hours to get someone out here." A spokesperson for Atlanta's Watershed Management says it's a private property issue. We've heard it all before... it's always someone elses problem to deal with.
- November 24, 2007: WSB-TV - Atlanta, GA

And the Toilet is Rising!!!: Raw sewage poured into several home in Widefield, WA on Sunday. "I went to go use the bathroom and there was water all over my feet," said affected homeowner Gerald Miller. He tried to stop it from going to the other rooms, but there was too much to deal with, literally. It spread throughout his basement. A few houses down it was the same story. James Thompson says, "Raw sewage, it's nasty." The back up is being blamed on grease balls in the sewer lines.
- November 25, 2007: KOAA First News - Colorado Springs, CO

Lousy Lift Station: A sewage lift station failure caused a sewage spill in Blackwater Creek in Loxley, AL. The health department urges the public to be cautious when using the creek for recreational purposes, especially if handling any fish or seafood caught near the area. The lift station failed due to a lightning strike, according to health department reports. No word on the amount of sewage spilled into Blackwater Creek.
- November 26, 2007: The Press-Register - Tuscaloosa ,AL

EEEEEeeeewwww!: Residents of an apartment complex in Wichita, KS are raising a "stink" about raw sewage leaking in some apartments. Area resident, Christy Driver is disgusted and frustrated with the sewage problems she's had to experience. "I had sewage water coming up in my tub and my toilet was overflowing," said Driver. Health concerns associated with the sewage led the city to get involved. The city is recommending that the tenants leave the apartments until the mess is properly cleaned up.
- November 26, 2007: KAKE ABC 10 - Wichita, KS

Stinky Slip Up: Officials are expected to get an idea of just how much damage was caused by Monday night's huge raw sewage spill that dumped thousands of gallons of sewage into the Port of Sacramento. More signs will be posted to keep anglers and swimmers safe from this popular stretch of water. The spill happened when construction crews were laying a new sewage line when a valve broke. Up to 9400 gallons of raw sewage may have escaped into the port. The workers apparently didn't notice the leak for half an hour?!?!
- November 27, 2007: CBS 13 - Sacramento, CA

It Wasn't Me: More than 1 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into McDeeds Creek after three temporary pumps set up in a Southern Pines pump house ran out of fuel. The temporary pumps were installed while contractors were replacing the existing pump with a larger one. The pumps stopped working early Sunday when it ran out of fuel. "The fuel truck was there, but evidently the contractor put their chain up and they couldn't get in," said Dennis Brobst, the county's public utilities director. That's just ridiculous, but wait it gets better err I mean worse. Alarms on the temporary pumps automatically placed distress calls to four people, but the 1.2 million gallon spill wasn't stopped until 29 hours later. The employee at the wastewater treatment plant who took the call assumed it was a wrong number after he checked and found all the county pumps on his system were working properly. McDeeds Creek feeds into the Little River, a drinking water source for Fort Bragg.
- November 28, 2007: Fayetteville Observer - Fayetteville, NC

Spill, Suck, Lime...Ahhhhh: A Regional Utilities lift station on County Road 393 malfunctioned and caused a sewer spill near Nuit Lane on Nov. 27. A multiple systems failure caused 8,000 gallons of raw sewage to leak into an adjacent lot. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Walton County Health Department were both notified and performed sampling of both top and lower layers of soil.
- November 29, 2007: The Walton Sun - Santa Rosa Beach, FL

Good Morning River of Poo: Michael Morris said he woke up Thursday morning to an unusual smell. "It was unbelievably strong... When I walked outside everything was wet. I had a nice river of poo flowing down my backyard," said Morris. According to the City of Parker, an old pipe collapsed causing the water to back up. "The smell was horrible, is horrible, not getting any better. It's all in my house. I'm not at all happy about my yard. I have a daughter that likes to play back here and I don't want her back here in the yard now... Something needs to be done with Martin Lake here. I'm sure it's not good for the lake. There's a lot of wild life back there," said Morris.
- November 29, 2007: WMBB News 13 - Panama City, FL