USA: Sometimes untreated sewage discharged into rivers

In 772 cities representing 40 million people across the country, the same pipe system that handles rain and snow runoff also handles sewage. (One other study said the number was closer to 1,100 cities — see page 31 of this study.) When there is too much rain, the system overflows and cities sometimes discharge untreated or partially treated sewage into rivers and other waterways. Is your city one of the 772? Check the EPA map.
You can also check a list of the cities. Note, both the map and the list are from 1998. EPA urges you to check to see if the information is still current.
Here is a 2000 report to Congress on the issue, including photographs. What's New:
Now, the L.A. Times says (reg. req.):
The Bush administration proposed Monday to allow sewage treatment plants to release partially treated sewage into waterways when utilities are inundated with wastewater during heavy rainstorms or snowmelts. The change would be the latest in a series of apparent rollbacks of environmental regulations by the administration, a record Democrats hope to capitalize on during the presidential election next year.
What you may not know is that up to half of all wastewater treatment facilities in the country release some raw or partially treated sewage into waterways from time to time. The Times says, "Wastewater agencies said the proposal would merely authorize treatment plants to continue doing what many of them have done for years."
The Times says:
"Blending has always been an accepted practice," said Adam Krantz, a spokesman for the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. The agency estimates that 20 percent to 50 percent of treatment facilities sometimes blend treated and partially treated water and then release it into waterways, enabling them to handle large amounts of wastewater.
Here is an example of a city that dumped billions (yes billions) of gallons of raw sewage into rivers and other waters. Baton Rouge, a couple of years ago, agreed to a court settlement to stop dumping.
Get Local:
Find out how may times your city or county has "bypassed" treatment in the last three years. Don't just look at one year, because if you have an abnormally wet or dry season it will not be a solid picture of the situation. This is also a nice entry point into the story of sewer rates going up that I mentioned last week. Cities have simply not kept up with updating sewer facilities and now they are paying a heavy price.
This is now both a "pocketbook" and an "environmental safety" issue — two red-hot buttons for your public.
Go here to see how much states estimate it would cost to have "one overflow per system every five years." The numbers are staggering — in Alabama, for example, it would cost almost $2.5 billion. Illinois and New York — more than $3 billion each, and Texas says it would need $12 billion to just limit overflows to one every five years in each system.
Resources:
· Environmental Group - Natural Resources Defense Council· Environmental News Network· EPA Clean Water Act· History of Clean Water Act from EPA· Water Environment Federation · Nice collection of recent water sewer stories from the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies. (Some of the stories require registration, but at least you will know where to go to look for the articles.)· EPA's Wastewater Management page· Drill down to your EPA region for enforcement information · Research on wet weather overflows from EPA — several years of data and a nice collection of documents.

Source: http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.2/aid.53528/column.htm