SOMETHING STINKS IN HATTIESBURG

A disgusting odor has been permeating the city of Hattiesburg, MS lately. For awhile, the city public works department claimed it didn't know the cause, but most everyone who smelled it knew that it smelled a lot like sewage. It turns out that the city's sewage lagoons are to blame.

There is more to the story, though. The lagoons, which are a very basic type of sewage treatment most commonly used by very small towns, are in violation of the Clean Water Act, polluting the nearby Leaf and Bowie Rivers. Sewage lagoons are basically a series of ponds which, under ideal circumstances, treat sewage using bacteria that live in the ponds. The Hattiesburg lagoons are truly massive as you can see from the satellite photo I included (the four polygons make up the south lagoon). In fact, by my estimate, the total size of the lagoon is about 330 acres, or roughly half a square mile.

As I argue in the letter I wrote in the Hattiesburg American, the city has not properly planned for growth and is sticking with its outdated sewage treatment lagoons rather than upgrading them to a modern treatment system. Why is this important? What Hattiesburg puts into the Leaf River, ultimately flows into the Pascagoula River and the Gulf of Mexico. In order to protect the Gulf of Mexico, we have to look upstream.

If you live in Hattiesburg, it is time to let your local leaders know they need to do better and should start by raising the money to replace the smelly lagoons. In the meantime, if you use the Leaf or Bowie Rivers, you may want to think twice about swimming or fishing near where the lagoons empty into the rivers.

Jeff Grimes is Assistant Director of Water Resources.

SEWAGE IN A STREAM...NO BIG DEAL

This story comes from the Picayune Item in Mississippi and is just unbelievable.

Apparently, a small wastewater treatment plant that serves a subdivision has been failing at least since Katrina. The sewage is going directly into a popular stream for canoing and swimming called Hobolochitto Creek, also called Boley Creek by locals.

Untreated sewage can cause all sorts of illnesses from viruses to parasites, and I would not recommend anyone swim in the Hobolochitto. What makes this story particularly infuriating is that the state has apparently known of these problems, yet nothing has been done. Discharging untreated sewage is a direct violation of the Clean Water Act and is also a major human health risk. The area in question got hammered by Hurricane Katrina, and I understand that it takes time to fix these problems. However, it is not more than two years since Katrina and the permissive attitude of the local and state governments in this case is quite troubling. At the GRN, we are working to make sure that states enforce the laws we have that exist to protect the public. This example demonstrates that the State of Mississippi has a long way to go yet.

Jeff Grimes is Assistant Director of Water Resources for the Gulf Restoration Network

TREASURE TO TRASH, OUR NATION'S BEACHES GOING TO POT

I had a harrowing day at the beach once. When I was 5 years old my family took me to Galveston . The movie Jaws had just opened and everyone was a little on edge. It was toward the end of the day though when all hell broke loose. Out of the quiet hypnotic wave sounds burst a blood-curdling scream. “Shark! AHHhhhhh!!” I looked up from my crooked sand castle and saw my father practically running on top of the water. When he got to shore, it became apparent that the shark was in fact a jellyfish and not a very big one. My uncle’s gave him the most hilarious ribbing for the rest of the evening. This was the worst it ever got on the beach for me. Nowadays though, the thing that gets you is hard to see.

Just ask the Holmes’. Ten weeks after they spent a day at Galveston beach, their 9 year old daughter Megan came down with post-infectious gastroparesis. Now Megan will have memories of her gall-bladder surgery, emergency room visits, and living with a feeding tube. She is not alone though. Many American children have been exposed to harmful life-threatening chemicals and biological pathogens at the beach.

According to the new NRDC* report, “Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches,” the number of no-swim days caused by stormwater more than doubled from the year before. This led to “sewage spills and overflows causing 1,301 beach closings and advisory days in 2006, an increase of 402 days from 2005.” What does this statistic really say? Beaches had to be closed because there was feces on the beach.

The blame lies in our aging sewage systems and poorly designed storm run-off structures. Combine that with unrestrained development of wetlands, irresponsible sprawl on the coasts, and climate changes and you have got a formula for disease. Who suffers? Those who are already at increased risk for infection: children, the elderly, and the immune- compromised (cancer patients, people with organ transplants, HIV+, and others). Risks include gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis**, respiratory ailments among other health problems.

“Families can’t use the beaches in their own communities because they are polluted. Kids are getting sick – all because of sewage and contaminated runoff from outdated, under-funded treatment systems,” said Nancy Stoner, director of NRDC’s water program. It begs the question: Are we budget cutting ourselves to death?

Before swearing off beaches forever, you should know that all is not lost. The Beach Protection Act of 2007 (H.R. 2537/S. 1506) introduced in May will reauthorize the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act (BEACH Act) of 2000. This bill will mandate rapid testing methods that can detect beach water contamination in just two hours or less as well as increase funding levels for source tracking and pollution prevention.

NRDC is offering beachgoers an opportunity to discuss their personal Beach Bums (bad bad beach!) and Beach Buddies (yeah, good beach!). To post a comment, visit NRDC's new Your Oceans website, where you can find fun summer tips for being safe and healthy while at the beach.

*NRDC is a member organization of the Gulf Restoration Network!

**Hepatitis C is not considered a risk factor as it is only transmitted through direct contact with infected blood.

Casey DeMoss Roberts is the Special Projects Coordinator for the Gulf Restoration Network

PUTTING THE "EW" IN SEWAGE

It is well-known that our nation's system of sewage treatment plants and pipes is aging, with much of it in disrepair. Nevertheless, I was shocked when I was in Mississippi recently and had some time to explore the sewage situation there.

My first stop was to investigate a sewage treatment plant near Jackson, MS. Where the sewage treatment plant flows into a local stream, I found a large buildup of sewage sludge and no signs of anything living in the stream. The stream that was polluted by sewage is connected to a reservoir that is the drinking water supply for the city of Jackson. Unfortunately, I don’t think most people who live in the nearby subdivision have any idea what is happening. There certainly were no signs warning the public about the sewage pollution or that it may be unsafe to swim or come into contact with the water.

On the same trip, I also noticed many private residences that were discharging sewage directly from their homes into a ditch in the front yard. In technical lingo, they call that a “straight pipe,” which means rather than treating the sewage, it is piped straight into the nearest ditch or river, endangering aquatic life and humans who may become sick when they come into contact with the water. These straight pipes are a violation of the Clean Water Act, and a major problem in Mississippi.

Seeing all the sources of sewage pollution in just one small part of Mississippi makes me fear for the people who may unwittingly be wading, swimming, or even drinking water contaminated with sewage. When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do on a hot summer day was to play around in the creek behind my house. I wonder how many kids may be playing in sewage.

Jeff Grimes is Assistant Director of Water Resources.

THE JOYS OF SEWAGE

Throughout Southern Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has been promoting “wetland assimilation” projects as a potential low-cost alternative for waste water treatment. In these projects, treated and disinfected wastewater is released into existing wetlands instead of local streams. While I am supportive of beneficial use of waste, I have witnessed some causes for concern related to one of these projects near Hammond. One issue with this project is that the wastewater treatment facility has been violating its permit since the new plant and assimilation project went on-line in December. The violations include high levels of “BOD” or biochemical oxygen demand. These high levels of BOD result in the reduction of oxygen in the receiving waters, and increased odors. Residents near this facility have been complaining about these odors since the plant went on-line.

I guess the way I feel is that LDEQ and area municipalities are becoming a bit overzealous in promoting these assimilation projects. This project was designed with the assumption that the plant would work properly, but with these consistent violations, I can’t help but wonder about the long and short term effects on the wetland.

Recently Hammond has been taking steps to correct their BOD problems, and have met their permit limits the past couple of weeks. While this has been a long time coming, I hope this continues—for the wetlands, the municipality, and for the citizens that have been living with an awful stench for several months.

Matt Rota is the Director of the GRN's Water Resource Program

MCCOMB SEWAGE PROBLEMS FINALLY RESOLVED?

A few months ago, the GRN surprised the small City of McComb, MS by sending a notice of intent to sue over continuing problems with the city’s east sewage treatment plant. As far back as 2001, the city had been violating its discharge permit, polluting a local stream with wastewater containing high levels of suspended solids, copper, chlorine, and pathogens. That improperly treated wastewater was flowing into a small stream known as Town Creek, then into the Little Tangipahoa River, and ultimately into Lake Pontchartrain.

Unfortunately, the City of McComb had failed to adequately address its sewage problems for years, and its sewage has been polluting the water in the Little Tangipahoa River. For that reason, the GRN felt it was important to make sure this problem was finally resolved. There had been, unfortunately, a history of failure to fix the sewage problems in McComb.

Working with the City of McComb and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), we reviewed the proposed agreement between the city and state and requested revisions. The end result is that McComb will have to have a new sewage treatment plant operating and in compliance by Jan 1, 2011. In the meantime, the City has taken steps to improve its current sewage treatment system and has paid a $50,000 fine. Because the City and MDEQ were able to reach an agreement that suited us, we no longer needed to proceed with our notice of intent to sue.

If everything goes according to plan, McComb can be considered a success story. Unfortunately, this situation never should have arisen. Enforcement of water pollution violations has been too lax in Mississippi and other states, to the point that polluters have little to fear. McComb had a long legacy of discharging improperly treated sewage, but it hasn’t been the only city or industry violating the law. There are many other sewage treatment plants in Mississippi that continue to violate their permits and desperately need attention.

Jeff Grimes is Assistant Director of Water Resources for the GRN