The view from Route 105 bridge at Indian Island golf course as the Peconic River leads into the Bay. (Barbaraellen Koch Photo)

Protecting our surface and ground waters is L.I.s public issue number one. The L.I. Clean Water Partnership has done a great job in increasing public and political awareness. But we must avoid the trap of oversimplifying both the problem and the solutions.

Any campaign has three elements: awareness, education and action. Awareness has been raised. Now the hard work, education, has to begin. Education involves inclusive public discussion, scientific debate and a broad coalition on how best to move forward.

Today, everythings a 10-second sound bite. However, using sound bites to explain proposed solutions can be harmful to long-term success. For example, in County Executive Steve Bellones recent public talks on the water issue, he and others read from the same script weve heard over and over again. We deserve more than that. We need more than that.

We need full information to make informed decisions.

Take Mr Bellones main proposal to solve our water problems: prioritize areas with failing septic systems; identify those near existing sewer systems, and extend the sewers to those properties. Interesting concept until you look a little deeper.

Now, putting priority properties, especially waterfront lots, onto a municipal sewer system will remove nitrogen from septic systems and from leeching into our waters. This is good. But think about this a little more. In L.I.s history, when you extend sewer systems, high-density residential and commercial develop follows. Always has. Always will. So what problems do extended sewer systems and more development add to our current water problems?

Many.

First problem is the sewers themselves. Septic systems work by seeping wastewater back into the ground. As the water moves through the soil, it filters out and reduces the concentration of nitrogen and other elements. In areas of high-density too many homes and people on too little land the ground becomes over-saturated with septic output, thus the filtering of nitrogen and other elements is impaired. Sewers solve that problem, to some degree.

Most of L.I.s municipal sewage treatment plants and the smaller community systems which feed into them, take wastewater from the sewers, treat it and pump the resulting effluent into the Sound, our bays or the ocean. While this prevents nitrogen from entering the ground, it also means all of that sewered water is removed from the recharge cycle. In other words, instead of returning a large portion of the water we use back to the water table and deeper aquifers, its diverted to our surrounding bodies of salt water.

Originally posted here:
Guest Spot: Nothing simple about our water crisis

Grounds for Problems

Dear Heloise: In a recent Washington Post article, you stated that leftover COFFEE GROUNDS should never be put down the garbage disposal. Why? Al S., via email

Al, you and many readers were curious, so heres the scoop. Its not that the disposal wont handle them; it does grind up all sorts of food. Its when they go down the drain and supposedly disappear into the sewer system. That black hole in the kitchen sink is attached to the plumbing, and thats where the problem might come up and, well, really stop things up!

Look under the kitchen sink, and you will see a P-trap (I say it looks like a bent elbow). If you dont run enough water (and most folks dont), the grounds can get stuck in there or in the plumbing farther down the line.

Then you add other foods scraped from plates, or you wash a pan that has grease or oil on it. Combine all of these factors, and you just might end up with a clogged drain. My mantra: Its better to prevent a problem than to have to deal with one.

When in doubt, throw it out! If you live in a house, the plumbing can run a long way to the sewer or septic system.

Hope this helps clear up the coffee-grounds question. Heloise

PET PAL

Dear Readers: Debra Amos in Moulton, Ala., sent a photo of her blue-eyed Lab puppy, Crystal Dynasty, sleeping wedged between furniture. She was named after her owners alma maters numerous national football championship titles. She is full of personality and has become the ambassador for a nonprofit organization that her owner runs. To see Crystals photo, go to http://www.Heloise.com and click on Pets. - Heloise

YEAR-ROUND LABELS

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Hints from Heloise 2/15/2014

Charlotte investigating illegal dumping into Charlotte's water sewer system. (WSOC)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WSOC) The city of Charlotte is asking for the publics help in trying to find the person who illegally dumped chemicals into Mallard Creek.

Officials held a media briefing Friday morning to share details on the investigation into the illegal dumping.

City Manager Ron Carlee, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Director Barry Gullet, CFD Hazmat Deputy Jeff Dulin and CMPD Detective Rob Klass were in attendance.

Officials said that on Thursday, CFD hazmat crews responded to reports of an unusual substance flowing into the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on U.S. 29 North. An oily sheen could be seen on the surface of the water. The flow was contained in a holding tank until it was determined that it was safe to return the plant for service. The plant was back online Friday morning.

We worked through the night to make adjustments in the plant to be sure that we could handle the product and that we could produce safe and clean wastewater from the plant. So the plant, like Mr. Carlee said, is back online, and is functioning this morning, Gullett said.

The chemical has been identified as polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs and trichlorobenzene. Officials said the citys water supply has not been affected by the illegal dumping and that this was an isolated incident in Mallard Creek.

Police think this is a case of illegal and deliberate dumping. They are asking anyone who may have seen anything suspicious late Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning near the Food Lion grocery store along Sugar Creek Road and W.T. Harris Boulevard to call police.

A Food Lion representative said the company is working closely with the City, EPA and other agencies to investigate the possibility of a third-party illegally dumping chemicals into a sewer drain near our Food Lion Store located at Sugar Creek Road and Harris Boulevard. Food Lion is working with authorities in the investigation to lead to the ultimate arrest of any and all individuals responsible for this situation.

The drinking water is safe, including the well water that many people in this area use, officials said, however they want people living along Mallard Creek south of the plant to be careful and avoid animal and human contact with the water until more tests can be done.

Go here to see the original:
Charlotte investigating illegal chemicals dumped into sewer system

EPHRATA Ephrata is looking how its septic system could serve heavy industry.

The city agreed to hire Gray and Osborne to review how well the sewer system could handle the waste from Lenroc. The Ephrata fertilizer company wants to connect to the citys system.

The $2,200 bill for the study will be paid by Lenroc, City Administrator Wes Crago said. The company is located at the north side of the port.

Theyve got a number of interesting chemical compounds that they work through, he said. They would like to see if its possible to use our sanitary sewer system to process their discharge.

City officials are concerned what chemicals would go into the citys wastewater treatment plant, and how they would affect it.

Before we can say, Yes or no, we need to have a study done about what we can accept and what they would need to pretreat, Crago said.

The study will give the city more information about what the sewer system can support. He said the sewer system at the port isnt designed for heavy industry.

This could give us some more knowledge (about) what we would need to do to make ourselves more postured for heavy industry, Crago said. (It would) definitely tell us what we can and cant do.

Excerpt from:
Lenroc pays for study on how Ephrata system handles chemicals

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

The city of Charlotte is asking for the public's help in trying to find the person who illegally dumped chemicals into Mallard Creek.

Charlotte officials held a second media briefing at the government center Friday evening to update the public on the situation.

Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon said a lot of hard work has gone into rectifying the situation.

Anything coming out of your faucet is safe, Cannon said.

City officials are putting together a task force to find whoever is responsible for illegally dumping into sewer system.

The task force includes Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Department, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Charlotte Fire Department, Environmental Protection Agency officials and North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Were talking about a time of the morning within the city at a time when the type of tanker truck that may be involved in something like this would be readily, hopefully identifiable by someone that may have seen it, said CMPD Chief Rodney Monroe.

Officials held their first media briefing Friday morning to share details on the investigation.

City Manager Ron Carlee, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Director Barry Gullet, CFD Hazmat Deputy Jeff Dulin and CMPD Detective Rob Klass were in attendance.

Read more from the original source:
Mayor on illegal dumping: 'Anything coming out of your faucet is safe'

ANGEL FIRE The village of Angel Fire could get more much-needed water supplies upon completion of certain documentation up to two decades past due, the State Engineers Office reported last week.

The village requested a variety of water consumption credits through a return-flow report filed with the State Engineers Office in 2005. The report suggests the village should be allowed to take more from its wells because much of the water used by the municipality returns to the ecosystem as a result of snow-making, land applications, septic discharge, golf-course irrigation, waterline breaks and waterline leaks.

In a letter delivered to Angel Fire Manager M. Jay Mitchell last week, however, Sheldon Dorman of the State Engineers Office wrote the village will not be eligible for any water credits until the municipality files a variety of documentation that should have been submitted from 1992-2013.

Among the missing documents are 23 well-completion reports due Nov. 30, 1992, a well-completion report due Dec. 30, 2008, and proof of beneficial water use due Oct. 31, 2013, Dorman wrote. Another well-completion report is due March 31 of this year, he wrote.

Dorman also wrote that the only water credits available to the village are for snow-making and sewer discharge.

It is recommended that credit for return flow for golf course irrigation, septic tanks, land application and unaccounted water such as leakage will not be granted to the Village of Angel Fire, a memo from the State Engineers Office states.

Although Angel Fires return-flow report suggests 79 percent of its water used for snow-making returns to the ecosystem, the memo states the villages snow-making credit would be based on an analysis for the Santa Fe Ski Company. Angel Fire Resort used an average of 84.24 acre-feet of the villages water for snow-making during each of the last three winter seasons, according to municipal records.

If the Santa Fe study came back and actually showed that theres a higher level of evaporation or something like that, it might be a lower (credit), Mitchell said.

Through the sewer-discharge credit, Mitchell said, the village would be allowed to use an additional acre-foot of water for every acre-foot of effluent released into the Cineguilla Creek. Although the village has the ability and permits to discharge about 1,120 acre-feet of water into the creek each year, the municipality released an average of only 63.08 acre-feet during each of the last six years.

This is why we need to get more people hooked up on our sewage system. We dont get septic credit. Its metered, so anything we process, clean and discharge, we get one-for-one credit on it, Mitchell said. ...Out of just roughly over 1,800 water customers that the village has, weve only got 389 that are on our sewer system.

Read more:
Sangre Chronicle > Angel Fire > Much-needed Angel Fire water credits hinge on missing documents

Published: Monday, 2/3/2014

BY CARL RYAN BLADE STAFF WRITER

OTTAWA LAKE The harsh winter weather has delayed completion of the $3.3 million project along Memorial Highway to Sylvania that will bring sanitary sewers to this small Michigan village just north of the state line.

Whiteford Township has given its contractor, Dunnigan Brothers Inc. of Jackson, Mich., a 90-day extension to finish the job, which had been scheduled to be completed by the end of January. The weather just turned on them, township Supervisor Walter Ruhl said. Its pretty hard to get machinery to work when its 0 degrees.

He said the project, which includes boring through ground and installing a 6-inch line, is already two-thirds to three-quarters done. They ran into a lot more rock than they figured. I think they probably will take every bit of the new time limit. I think this is going to be one bad winter.

The project is needed. The township was found in violation of Michigans Clean Water Act nearly five years ago when E. coli bacteria turned up in a ditch and is under state order to fix the problem. A $2,718,000 federal grant and $680,000 loan are financing the project.

An August groundbreaking at the Ottawa Lake Fire Hall monument marked the projects start. The site is the location of the projects main pumping station.

Mr. Ruhl has worked three years to make the project a reality. Many Ottawa Lake households lack even septic systems, and wastewater runs into a storm sewer that runs into a creek. Other homes with septic systems are on rock or clay, which is Ottawa Lakes geology, and drain into the water table.

The project will bring sanitary sewers to about 100 Ottawa Lake users, business and residential, who never have had sewers. An arrangement negotiated with Sylvania includes a 40-year contract that allows Ottawa Lake to send up to 125,000 gallons a day to Sylvanias sewer system.

Sylvania contracts with Lucas County to send more than 2 million gallons of sewage a day for treatment and has plenty of unused capacity with its 5,900 customers. The gallon limit with Sylvania effectively limits the number of customers to no more than 300.

Read the original post:
Sanitary sewers' completion delayed

MOREAU -- Almost everyone agrees sewer service is needed along Route 9 if it stands a chance of blooming into the commercial corridor desired to offset the residential tax burden in coming years.

But, as always, its a question of who will pay for the infrastructure, and many are wondering if theres a way to distribute the cost of a proposed $14.1 million project which includes sewer service on Route 9 and down Bluebird Road across the town instead of laying it only on those within the sewer district.

Is there a way to have it paid for by the entire town not just those in the district? If we get commercial development on Route 9, we will all benefit, said resident Bobbi Spaulding during the public comment portion of Tuesdays Town Board meeting. Spaulding, who does not live in the proposed extension, made the connection between the tax base and the school district considering closing a school, saying its all connected.

Supervisor Preston Jenkins said that was a common suggestion he heard over the past 30 days, and an idea he would support pursuing.

I dont know if people would support it, but I wouldnt have a problem trying it, Jenkins said.

The Town Board meeting fell the day after the deadline for property owners within the sewer district to petition to send formation of the new district to a vote.

That vote will be held from noon to 8 p.m. April 1 at the Municipal Complex using machines from the Saratoga County Board of Elections.

By law, only property owners may vote, which some residents took issue with at the meeting.

Corporations will get one vote, and if one person owns several properties, they will get one vote. If a property is owned jointly, it appears both owners would get a vote, said Town Attorney Karla Beuttner.

The town learned in early December it would qualify for low-interest funding, for the first time ever, and was given a condensed timeline to complete adoption of the district, which was required for a valid application.

Read the rest here:
Townwide support of expanded sewer district mulled in Moreau

A federal judge on Monday fined All-Out Sewer & Drain co-owner Randy Dingus $15,000 and sentenced him to 30 days in prison for violating the Clean Water Act for his role in illegally dumping septic truck wastes into Longviews sewer system.

In addition, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle sentenced Dingus to one year of supervised release with 40 hours of community service, 60 days of location monitoring and a $100 special assessment.

Dingus is allowed to self-report to prison, which usually occurs six to eight weeks from sentencing, according to U.S. Attorneys Office spokeswoman Emily Langlie. The Bureau of Prisons will send Dingus a letter instructing him where to go, Langlie said. He likely will be imprisoned at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac but could be assigned to a different federal prison, such as the one in Sheridan, Ore., Langlie said Monday.

At 3:30 a.m. Aug. 3, 2012, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agent witnessed Dingus as he pumped a septic collection truck into a sewer cleanout port behind All-Outs building at 3303 Washington Way in Longview.

In July, Dingus pleaded guilty to one count of violating the federal Clean Water Act and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the trial of All-Out Sewer owner Ray Caldwell. Under Dinguss plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed not to criminally prosecute him for additional offenses, which the office says it has evidence of Dingus committing related to the case.

The government had requested a sentence of three months and a fine of $25,000 for Dingus, who owned 10 percent of the business. In documents filed with the court, Dinguss attorneys lobbied for a lighter sentence of 180 days electronic home monitoring and 100 hours of community service.

Dinguss attorney, Zenon P. Olbertz of Tacoma, said Dinguss illegal dumping occurred fewer than a dozen times and over a time period of less than a year. Dingus did not benefit financially from his actions, Olbertz argued. In the five to six years Dingus owned a percentage of the business, he was paid $4,000, and in the other years Caldwell told him the business had lost money, according to the court documents. He couldnt afford to pay the $25,000 the government requested the court impose, Olbertz said.

He, at this time, has no means to pay a fine of such magnitude, Olbertz wrote in the defendants sentencing memorandum submitted Thursday. Other than the limited money paid to him discussed above, he received no benefit from Caldwell and All Outs illegal activities.

Caldwell will be sentenced March 10. On Dec. 16, Judge Settle found him guilty of all 33 counts he faced: 25 felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act, six counts of mail fraud and two counts of making false statements.

Caldwell was accused of pumping septic waste from his collection trucks into the city sewer system on 25 different dates last year to avoid disposal fees of 10 to 25 cents per gallon. He also is accused of underreporting by hundreds of thousands of gallons the amount of septage he collected from customers.

Read more:
All-Out Sewer co-owner Randy Dingus gets 30 days, $15,000 fine

Posted: Thursday, January 23, 2014 11:00 am

Finish line in sight for Bolton Lakes Big Dig

The Bolton Lake sewer project is not exactly akin to Bostons Big Dig, but for those who live around the lake and who are connected into the new sanitary sewer line it is their Big Dig and it is almost over.

The Bolton Lake project was initiated in 1999 when the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered a sewer system be installed around the lake, as many septic tanks were failing.

The project is now on its last round, with bids being asked for its final section.

Bolton Lake will remain clean, residents will have solved their septic tank problems by connecting into the Manchester sewer system, and the state grants and loans from the federal government will have brought its cost in under budget.

Congratulations to everyone.

Posted in Editorials on Thursday, January 23, 2014 11:00 am.

Go here to see the original:
Finish line in sight for Bolton Lake’s ‘Big Dig’