 Recent Coverage |
 5/11/04: Sewers overflow to waterways |
Posted on 05/13/2004 10:40:34 AM PDT by Darkshadow
Whitefish Bay - Lynne Belcher was strolling along the beach at Big Bay Park Wednesday morning when she spotted a huge slick of what she described as a field of feces, just 20 feet from the shoreline.
|
A small crowd had joined her on the beach, she said, and all had the same thought:
"I knew right away it was that stuff that was dumped up in Bayside," Belcher said, referring to the sewage dumped at Ravine Lane and Lake Drive during Monday's storm. "It was just awful. Can't they clean it up?"
Ted Bosch, a state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, said his agency has discussed trying to clean up the beach but doesn't know how.
"We're talking a huge volume," Bosch said. "You just can't call the honey wagon in to suck it up."
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and three north shore communities dumped a total of 721,480 gallons of sewage Monday at six locations - all spots where sewage dumping is illegal under federal law. They have five days to file reports with the DNR explaining what happened and how it can be avoided in the future. The DNR is expected to respond to those reports by the end of next week, Bosch said.
Monday's storm was brief but intense, dropping as much as 2.6 inches of rain. There's a 5% chance of such a storm happening in any given year, Bosch said.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett noted that the overflows could result in fines of up to $10,000 for each location. He restated his promise that something would be done about the problem.
"This is not acceptable," he said.
The DNR has not fined MMSD in the past, saying that it prefers correcting the problems to punishing the district. Two local environmental groups claim in a federal lawsuit that the DNR has been too lax in its enforcement of the federal Clean Water Act.
MMSD officials blamed Monday's sewage release on rainwater leaking through cracks in sewers, causing them to overfill and spill into local waterways.
"They're only supposed to carry sanitary flows from homes and businesses," said Kevin Shafer, the district's executive director.
The leaky-local-sewer assertion has long irked municipal officials. District records show that the communities and the district have spent about $22 million to tighten up local lines and reduced infiltration 5% by the end of December 2002. Officials said they could not provide numbers showing the relative success of each community.
Bill Graffin, a spokesman for the sewerage district, agreed that many communities had spent a lot of money keeping rain out.
"The fact that we're still having trouble means we have to look upstream," Graffin said.
He's saying the problem lies with laterals, the homeowner-owned pipes that connect a house to the public sewer. Fixing a leaky lateral can cost thousands of dollars.
"Some private laterals are old clay pipes, and many are in terrible condition," Graffin said. "It's a national problem."
The district cannot inspect private laterals but said it would use a number of techniques to inspect the sewers in the areas where problems occurred this week.
Some of the suburban communities have complained in the past - during much heavier rains - that they've seen the flow backing up from the larger district-owned sewers into theirs.
Barrett appoints seven of the 11 members of the commission that oversees operation of the sewerage district. He said he had asked city appointees Dennis Grzezinski and Preston Cole to stay on. Two or three others could be replaced, he said.
Barrett also said he has not asked Shafer, the district's executive director, to leave. The commission hires and fires the executive director.
The district reported the following sewage overflows Monday: 188,250 gallons at Lake Drive and Ravine Lane in Bayside; 147,480 gallons at Range Line Road at the Milwaukee River in River Hills; and 119,750 gallons at N. 31st St. and Cameron Ave. in Milwaukee.
Brown Deer reported 175,000 gallons dumped at N. 61st St. and Villa Lane; Bayside reported 90,000 gallons at Bayside Lane and Fairy Chasm Road; and Fox Point said about 1,000 gallons were released at the lakefront, in the 7900 block of N. Beach Drive.
We have a couple of these 5% chance storms every year.
Surfs Up! Hang Ten!
Prolly want to keep your mouth closed though.
Most municipalities know exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, they just won't because sewers are not cuddly and fuzzy.
"Coney Island Whitefish" Bay?
Look out for the beach whistles...
The Deep Tunnel is the usual politician designed absurdity, a hundred or a thousand times more expensive than necessary. I am sure those big political projects are more fun when the dumb taxpayer pays for them instead of you. Bet a lot of brothers-in-law made a bundle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.