San Francisco has had a rough week, with nearly six million gallons of sewage seeping in the bay. But it's been a big week all over the country. San Diego has kept it real by dumping more than 100,000 gallons onto its beaches. Florida seems to want to keep up with similar numbers into the heavily used St. Johns River. And in the DC suburbs, a screw up in Prince George's County dumped nearly five and a half million gallons of raw sewage into a major Potomac River (and Chesapeake Bay) tributary (see below). With all of the rain in the Midwest, I'm not even going to speculate what a troubled week it has been. It's weeks like this that reinforce our "Right to Know" what's in our streams, rivers and lakes. Contact your local and federal legislators and tell them you want them to Act for a Healthy Rivers by passing the Sewage Overflow Community Right ot Know Act.

And now the Spills of the Week:

Again and Again: Consistency is usually good, except when it comes in the form of weekly sewage dumps. In San Diego, a 105,000-gallon spill Saturday morning entered Loma Alta Creek, which discharges at Buccaneer Beach. Signs warning beachgoers about the sewage-contaminated water were posted along a quarter-mile stretch of beach surrounding the creek outlet. The spill of treated wastewater was caused by corrosion in an outfall pipe from Oceanside's sewage treatment plant. The contamination signs will remain to show that swimming in sewage is not good for you.
- February 2, 2008: San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego, CA

Snap, Crackle, Poop: A construction mishap sent about 100,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the St. Johns River. It happened near a water treatment plant on Bay Street where crews are making renovations to the bridge over Hogan's Creek. JEA spokesperson Gerri Boyce said Petticoat Contractors, Inc. of Jacksonville cracked an air release valve on a 36-inch main. Raw sewage spilled into the river for several hours. An Environmental Response Team vacuumed the raw sewage from the river. JEA placed more than a dozen signs around the creek to warn people not to swim, fish, or drink water the raw sewage contaminated water.
- February 4, 2008: WJXX, firstcoastnews.com - Jacksonville, FL

Weekend Washout: Heavy weekend rains caused a sewage system to overflow in the Sonoma Valley and spill thousands of gallons of rainwater and sewage into Sonoma Creek. The region has had persistent problems with its antiquated sewage collection system and apparently the spills are commonplace (that's ridiculous). The amount that flowed out was estimated to be 40,000 to 60,000 gallons.
- February 4, 2008: The Press Democrat - Santa Rosa, CA

Ripe River: Hundreds of gallons of sewage spilled into a creek that flows into the Reedy River. Department of Health and Environmental Control says the sewage overflowed into an unnamed stream Tuesday night. That stream eventually flows into the Reedy at Cleveland Park. DHEC says Western Carolina Sewer Authority lost 500 gallons of sewage before the pipe was fixed.
- February 6, 2008: WSPA News 7 - Spartansburg, NC

Big Beltway Backup!: A mechanical failure Tuesday at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's Piscataway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Accokeek sent an astonishing 5.3 million gallons of untreated wastewater into Piscataway Creek, according to a WSSC news release. The Maryland Department of the Environment and Prince George's County Health Department were notified of the situation. Storage ponds were used to collect some of the sewage during the overflow and the sewage will be pumped back into the system. Crews will remove all visible solids from the site and dispose of them properly.
- February 6, 2008: The Gazette - Gaithersburg, MD

MI UPDATE!: A sewage spill reported here last week into Big Pine Island Lake dumped about 83,000 more gallons of treated waste into the water than originally reported by the system's operator. Marc Middlestadt, who is the licensed operator for Sierra Consultants, said Wednesday 90,000 gallons flowed into the lake, not 7,000 gallons he reported last week. The spill occurred during a mechanical failure that began Jan. 15 and went undiscovered for almost two weeks. This is just another example of an unreported health hazard. Like the SF spill earlier this week, spills go unreported all over the U.S. everyday.
- February 7, 2008: The Grand Rapids Press - Grand Rapids, MI