When you think of the Great Barrier Reef you think of beautiful fish, pristine ecosystems and great surfing not raw sewage. According to Bruce Gunn, a former diving guide on the reef, sewage is an increasing threat to not only marine life but human health as well! Gunn claims that while he worked as the chief engineer on a charter dive boat in the 1990s, he was fixing a pump on a sewage tank when a valve broke cutting his wrist and covering him in raw sewage. Tragically, he contracted Hepatitis C from this incident and his had failing health ever since. Gunn is now trying to shed some light on the growing problem of sewage dumping within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. "Today there are hundreds of charter boats doing two trips a week and each of them is dumping a 44-gallon drum amount of what I call cocktail sewage," he said. "I saw a mullet once with a tampon still hanging out of its mouth." That's one of the grossest things I can imagine. This is a great example of how sewage in our rivers, lakes, streams and oceans can not only cause great damage to those natural ecosystems, but poses significant human health risks with very real and devastating consequences.

And now the Spills of the Week:
The Reading Rupture: The Department of Environmental Protection repaired a ruptured sewage line near Reading, PA. A 42-inch pipe ruptured Thursday evening. When it was all said and done the rupture dumped more than 20 million gallons of raw sewage into the Schuykill River. The only word that comes to my mind is UNBELEIVABLE! (More sewage news out of PA to come on the SLOG).
- January 11,12, 2008: The Centre Daily - State College, PA & The Reading Eagle - Reading, PA

Clogged High School: Sewage spilled out from the pipes into the East Lyme High School, forcing an early dismissal. Lyme, how fitting because that's what they'll need to disinfect the building. A clogged pipe caused some 3,000 gallons of waste water to bubble up from floor drains, seeping into bathrooms, hallways, classrooms and the cafeteria. "It will find its way into cracks and crevices, hopefully not much into the carpeting," said school officials. It seems the pipe was blocked intentionally. Whatever happened to pulling the fire alarm to avoid taking a test?
- January 15, 2008: WTNH 9- New Haven, CT

Greasy Mess: The Macon Water Authority cleaned up a 475 gallon sewage spill Saturday at 4201 Fairfax Drive in Macon, GA. The overflow, caused by the infamous grease ball, contaminated a ditch feeding into Rocky Creek. Debris was removed from the surrounding area and the affected area was disinfected. One of the perils of southern cooking.
- January 15, 2008: The Telegraph - Macon, GA

Class Canceled: A blocked sewage pipe forced school officials to shut off water at Ankeney Middle School and send students home early on Wednesday. Superintendent Dennis Morrison said water was shut off at the school about noon after a sewage problem was discovered. Plumbers worked to find the source of the blockage but after no immediate cause was uncovered district officials decided to close school early. "It's quite a stinking problem," Morrison said.

- January 16, 2008: Dayton Daily News - Dayton, OH

NOT GOOD!!!: Up to 6 million gallons of raw sewage a day have been allowed to bypass the Elizabeth Township Sanitary Authority treatment plant and flow into the Youghiogheny River, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Illegal sewage bypass have been going on in the township for more than a year and this is the first time the public is being informed of the problem. The raw sewage bypass spill is also 10 miles upstream from the drinking water uptake for Westmoreland County. Officials are currently looking into this and if the statement holds true this is a significantly illegal and detrimental release of raw sewage into a heavily used river. We will be watching this closely.
- January 16, 2008: Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh, PA

NOT GOOD EITHER!!!: As reported to us earlier this week by the New River Foundation, more than 2 million gallons of raw sewage escaped Jacksonville's main pumping station and spilled into Chaney Creek, a tributary of the New River. Crews were able to contain about 327,000 gallons, but another 1.8 million gallons flowed downstream. Chaney Creek flows into the New River. Jacksonville says it's found 300 to 400 finger mullets dead in the creek. The city says it's not sure whether the fish died from the spill or from the cold weather but I think I have a pretty good idea.
- January 16, 2008: WITN-TV - Jacksonville, NC

THEEEEERRRREEE BACK!: After a week off of the spills, San Diego is back! An estimated 1,300 gallon sewage spill occurred Wednesday at Mission Boulevard and Salem Court in Mission Beach, CA. According to San Diego County health officials, the spill was caused by a blockage in a sewer main line. The sewage flowed into a storm drain that empties into Mission Bay. Signs warning of sewage contaminated water are being posted in south Sail Bay and the east side of Santa Clara Point, county officials said. Signs will remain in place until sample results confirm the bay water is safe for recreational use. They love those signs in San Diego!
- January 16, 2008- TheSanDiegoChannel.com, KGTV, San Diego, CA