Drowning in Crap

Sorry, but after all of the progress we have made toward cleaning up our environment, see Main Stream Media and the Real Story, learning that human error and our aging infrastructure is responsible for millions of gallons of raw sewage being dumped into our healing waterways almost every day just makes me disappointed. These systems have deteriorated because maintenance has put off due to lack of funds or simple low priority. Well guess what, repairing these systems is going to cost even more now.

Here are some of the worst examples:

January 2008, about 20 million gallons of sewage flowed into Pennsylvania's Schuylkill River after a 42-inch pipe ruptured near Reading, Pa.

January 2008, heavy rain, combined with deteriorating pipes, overwhelmed a Marin County, Calif., wastewater treatment plant in January, spilling 2.45 million gallons of sewage into Richardson Bay, which connects to San Francisco Bay. Days later, an additional 2.7 million gallons of sewage spilled into the same bay when operators failed to engage all of the treatment plant's pumps.

February 2008, A mechanical failure at Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's Piscataway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Maryland sent millions of gallons of raw sewage into nearby Piscataway Creek in February.

In March 2008, between 700,000 and 1.3 million gallons of human feces and other waste spilled from a damaged pipe into Grand Lagoon at Panama City Beach, Fla.

August 2007, a ruptured sewer pipe spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson River just north of New York City.

June 2006, Improper excavation near Cary, N.C., ruptured a pipe and spilled approximately 8 million gallons of raw sewage into Swift Creek, Lake Wheeler and Lake Benson.

March 2006, a pressurized sewer pipe in Honolulu burst, spilling 48 million gallons of sewage into Ala Wai canal, which runs into the Pacific Ocean. High levels of bacteria detected in coastal waters closed Waikiki beaches for a week.

Between 2004 and 2006, about 14 million gallons of untreated sewage flowed into San Diego Bay due to improper construction of a Navy barracks high-rise.

August 2007, about 7.8 million gallons of raw sewage poured into White Clay Creek in Wilmington, Del., for 13 hours after a pump station switch and an alarm failed.

According to EPA data, hundreds of municipal sewer authorities have been fined for spills since 2003. And dozens of local governments have agreed to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems over the next 10 to 20 years. Many of those projects will be financed by rate increases.

At least one-third of the nation's large, publicly owned sewage treatment systems have been penalized by the EPA or state regulators for sewage spills or other violations. The penalties included fines as well as orders to fix problems or expand treatment capacity.

Total fines amounted to $35 million. The fines were assessed against 494 of the nation's 4,200 municipal facilities that treat at least 1 million gallons of sewage daily. In addition, some states have levied penalties that aren't included in the data.

Cities with the largest fines included San Diego ($6.2 million), New York City ($3 million), Los Angeles ($1.6 million), and Pittsburgh ($1.2 million).

A database of sewer facility treatment plant reports by state and county has been set up by Gannet News Service.

Many sewer systems are over 100 years old. And they need some immediate attention. When the volume of rainfall becomes too much for these old pipes to handle, the water and sewage mixture bypasses the treatment plant and flows directly into local waters. This is unacceptable.

Sewer systems overflow about 23,000 to 75,000 times per year, releasing an estimated 3 billion to 10 billion gallons of untreated waste into local waters, according to the EPA. These overflows are unlawful.

EPA officials say water quality has gotten better in many communities that have improved their sewer systems.

The nation's public wastewater treatment plants and sewage collection systems need about $350 billion to $500 billion over the next 20 years for repairs and expansion, according to estimates from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. The trade group based the estimates on figures from the EPA and other federal agencies.

Ratepayers certainly will be asked to help foot much of the bill. In Louisville, residential sewer rates jumped 30% last year to help finance an $800 million sewer renovation program that won't be completed until 2024. "We don't have any recourse," Louisville resident Roseanne Southard said as officials prepared to approve the increase. "These agencies all want more money, and I'm not making any more."

It’s a shame to see so much good work be wiped out due to lack of maintenance and shoddy infrastructure design. Once again we have fallen victim to this errant line of thinking where minor problems can be put off until they become major problems with major repair costs usually leaving someone else to pay for it.

This year, the federal government has budgeted $687 million for wastewater improvement, according to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies.

Here are some strategies that communities across the country are adopting, often at considerable expense, to protect rivers, streams and other bodies of water from sewage overflows.

• Relocate sewer lines away from environmentally sensitive areas.

• Repair damaged sewer lines, manhole covers and pump stations.

• Survey the entire sewer system to improve operations and maintenance.

• Educate homeowners and restaurateurs about how to avoid clogging sewer lines with fats, oil and grease.

• Eliminate sewer outlets that discharge combined raw sewage and storm water directly into local rivers and lakes.

• Eliminate leaking septic systems by connecting homes to sanitary sewer systems.

• Install meters and other technologies to identify and track sewage overflows.

I want to acknowledge Robert Benincasa, Gannet News Service, and Dan Klepal, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal for providing most of the facts in this article.