Editor's Note: Sorry for the lull in posting. River Action Day 2008 took precedence and was a tremendous success. The Slog will now resume.

A wastewater treatment plant in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada has recently opened an innovative treatment plant that composts human waste, transforming it into fertilizing garden mulch. Part of their 25 year celebration, the company is giving the bags of garden compost, a mix of bio-solids and organic plant matter, away to anyone who wants them. That is if you can get past the idea. For some reason, we're willing to put pig manure anywhere, but as soon as it's our own, hackles rise. Eventually the company is hoping to sell the stuff in gardening stores within the region, but is hoping to raise awareness and comfort with this free campaign.

And now the Spills of the last couple weeks:

Dirty Clean Up: Work crews spent the weekend cleaning up Ravenna Creek in Seattle, Washington, after nearly 6.4 million gallons of raw, untreated sewage destined for a city sewage line were accidentally diverted into a city storm drain and released over a ten-day period last month. County Wastewater Treatment Division Spokeswoman Annie Kolb-Nelson describes this spill, the worst in county history, as "embarrassing." Well, that's one word for it. The mistake was due to drain maps which failed to update when a sewer pipe was changed to a drain pipe...in 2005. I guess three years just wasn't enough time to re-label a map!

- Seattle Post Intelligencer - June 8, 2008

Spew Times Two: Raw sewage and toilet paper was seen flowing out of manholes for the second time in a matter of months in Castlebar, Ireland, despite the county's unusually dry weather. The local Northwestern Regional Fisheries board is threatening to take action if the Mayo County Council continues to ignore the problem. The sewage treatment plant still being used while another is built is operating for nearly 8,000 more people than it was designed for. Could that perhaps be the problem?

- The Mayo News - June 10, 2008

Unknown? Two more spills in Port Orchard, Washington, have forced officials to issue a seven day no contact area for all marine waters in Dyes Inlet. Occurring for two different reasons and only coincidentally happening within the same week, the two spills nonetheless have released enough sewage into the Inlet to completely shut down the shellfish harvesting in the area. According to Kitsap County Health District water protection program manager John Kiess, "we didn't have a lot of information about how long it had been happening," and therefore there is no estimate of how much sewage has been released....great.

- The Port Orchard Independent - June 11, 2008

Mucky Waters: The waters run amuck in much of Iowa, in more ways than one. Rains exceeding a 500 year flood event have caused numerous sewage treatment plants throughout Iowa to completely shut down, forcing them to release some, if not all of their incoming untreated sewage directly into rivers such as the Des Moines River and the larger Mississippi. Unfortunately, as water levels continue to rise, this dumping has no end in sight. "Everyone should assume there is sewage in the water," said Jim Stricker of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Residents are being advised to wear protective clothing when in contact with flood waters, and also to update their tetanus shots. Global warming anyone?

- The Des Moines Register - June 11, 2008

Floods, floods, floods: More rain in Grand Rapids Michigan caused a major sewage line to rupture, spilling raw sewage into more than thirty city streets, last Thursday. The major sewer main carried 90% of the city's sewage. Streets were still closed on Sunday as workers attempted to repair the major rupture, and many Lake Michigan beaches were still closed due to fear of dangerous E. coli levels.

- Grand Rapids Press - June 16, 2008

Blame the Rain?: Heavy rains around the Lake Champlain basin in Vermont have caused numerous treatment plants to overflow into local water sources, traveling down into Lake Champlain. But according to Mike Rapacz at the Vermont Conservation Law Foundation, it is time to stop blaming the rain. "The fact that rainfall has such a strong influence on water quality on treatment plants has nothing to do with rainfall, it has to do with poor infrastructure," he says. Yeah, you think?
- Vermont Public Radio - June 18, 2008

To Treat or not to Treat: A pumping breakdown in Reedsburg Wisconsin has 100% of its municipal waste being released directly into the river, according to a local newspaper. New pumps are being installed to prevent backups within the town, but according to Public Works Director, Steve Zibell, waste treatment could take a long time to return. "It could be a month, it could be six months," Zibell said. "We're pumping it right into the river." Residents downstream are being warned not to swim or have any contact with the water. Healthy.

- Baraboo News Republic - June 20, 2008