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 Sewer: Something Stinks! Bush administration Exposes Floridians to Raw Sewage
Pat describes the incidents as "water spraying out of a broken lawn sprinkler," but the substance is far more hazardous than water. When sewage overflows in Pat's backyard, she needs protective boots to walk across her own property, and after each event it takes at least two or three days for the wastewater to drain away-sometimes longer. Were she to try and sell her home, she would be required to inform potential buyers of the problem, driving down the value of her home. Though these events are called "sanitary" sewer overflows, the contents of the overflows are anything but sanitary. People who ingest or inhale inadequately treated sewage can contract gastroenteritis, hepatitis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, dysentery, and other gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. As many as 3.5 million Americans become sick every year just from swimming in waters contaminated by sanitary sewer overflows.1 Pat is hardly the only St. Petersburg resident to suffer through sanitary sewage overflows on her property-in Pat's neighborhood alone there are seven other homes afflicted with the problem. When municipal utility employees came to examine her yard, they refused to walk onto the property and told her there was nothing they could do. "Before they left," Pat says, "I was warned that under no circumstances should I lift the lid of the manhole cover. They told me if I did that, all the toilet paper would rise up and my yard would be covered in used toilet paper." Much of the state of Florida-as well as many other parts of the U.S.-has similar problems. Although the EPA does not track the number of sewage overflows in each state, it has estimated that at least 40,000 overflows of municipal sewage systems occur each year nationwide.2 In 2002, there were 72 beach closings in Florida due to high bacteria levels caused by sewage contamination, and 986 beach closings due to elevated levels of bacteria whose cause was unknown but which could also have been sewage-related.3 Nationwide, beach closings caused by pathogen contamination result in revenue losses as high as $2 billion every year, and economic losses due to swimming-related illnesses are estimated at $28 billion annually.4 Rather than working to alleviate this health threat, George W. Bush's administration blocked a proposed rule that would have required municipal sewage systems to improve their wastewater management and reduce sewage overflows. The rule would also have required sewage system operators to inform the public when a sewage overflow occurs in their neighborhood so that people can take steps to protect themselves and their families from the dangers of infection. The rule was proposed in January 2001, but the Bush administration has prevented it from taking effect, denying the public the right to know about these health threats. "In some ways, I'm lucky," Pat says. "At least I know what is going on. Because the EPA isn't required to inform people when overflows occur, I think about all the people in my community who could be walking through wastewater from a sewer overflow and not know it." In addition to blocking rules that would reduce sewage overflows and give the public the right to know about them, in November 2003 the Bush administration announced that it is considering allowing sewage treatment plants to discharge partially untreated wastewater containing viruses and parasites during rainstorms. This would only create more beach closures and illness. Properly functioning wastewater treatment systems are essential, not only to protect us from waterborne disease but to serve important parts of our economy such as tourism, manufacturing, and agriculture. According to a report by a Congressional subcommittee on water, "our existing national wastewater infrastructure is aging, deteriorating, and in need of repair, replacement, and upgrading."5 The Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund is the primary means of federal assistance to states for water infrastructure improvements.6 Unfortunately, the Bush administration's 2005 budget proposes a $500 million cut in the already-inadequate 2004 funding level. For Florida communities in need of help to upgrade their wastewater treatment systems, this translates into a cut of more than one-third from what they received in 2004. We can do better. We can make sure people are aware of sewage overflows by making public announcements, and we can reduce public exposure to them. Further, we can appropriately fund the repair and upgrade of America's water infrastructure to protect families like Pat's from the dangers of sanitary sewage overflows and the pollution they cause. For more information contact: Find out more:
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