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November 23, 2009 As Sewers Fill, Waste Poisons Waterways By CHARLES DUHIGG It was drizzling lightly in late October when the midnight shift started at the Owls Head Water Pollution Control Plant, where much of Brooklyn’s sewage is treated. A few miles away, people were walking home without umbrellas from late dinners. But at Owls Head, a swimming pool’s worth of sewage and wastewater was soon rushing in every second. Warning horns began to blare. A little after 1 a.m., with a harder rain falling, Owls Head reached its capacity and workers started shutting the intake gates. That caused a...

Iraqi construction workers place new sections of pipe for a sewer network in the Salhiyah neighborhood of northwest Baghdad, recently. The project was funded by Coalition forces, but the plan and execution were in the hands of local Iraqi government officials. Photo courtesy of 1st Infantry Division. BAGHDAD — The effort to restore essential services in Baghdad has seen a significant increase as security improves throughout the Iraqi capital.  One example of this is the competition of a major sewer network project for the residents of Karkh. "I was pleased to see this sewage project in our area," said Mobarak,...

The Fallujah Wastewater Treatment Plant construction continues at one of the 45 different contracts comprising one of the most complex projects the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has undertaken in Iraq. GRD photo by Kendal Smith. BAGHDAD — Sewer projects and other capacity-building projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division are positively affecting the environment in Iraq, according to the commander of the corps' Gulf Region Central District here. For example, solar-powered street lights installed in Fallujah use the sun's renewable energy, balancing the needs of the environment and communities by providing...

BAGHDAD, July 17, 2009 – Sewer projects and other capacity-building projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division are positively affecting the environment in Iraq, said the commander of the corps’ Gulf Region Central District here. For example, solar-powered street lights installed in Fallujah use the sun’s renewable energy, balancing the needs of the environment and communities by providing power, conserving natural resources for other uses, and improving air quality through reduced air emissions, Army Col. Ronald N. Light explained. Environmental conservation was not practiced during Saddam Hussein’s regime, Light said, but he’s seen progress during...

What it is... Bryozoa

Roman police find sewer children The children were found in sewers close to railway stations Italian police have found more than 100 immigrants, including 24 Afghan children, living in the sewer system beneath railway stations in Rome. The children range in age from 10 to 15 years and are now being looked after by the city's social services. They were found when the railway police followed up reports of children living near the city's stations. The police say they do not speak Italian and broke into the sewers by removing manhole covers. The charity Save the Children Italy says that...

Unconscious man among four people found in Herndon sewerBy  SCOTT BRODBECKUpdated 7:30 PM EST, Sat, Jan 17, 2009 An unconscious man was among four people Fairfax County police found in a sewer. It was later determined that the man had passed out from drinking, according to police. Responding to a report of people in a Herndon, Va. sewer, Fairfax County police found four men in a large sewer pipe, including one unconscious man.A hazardous materials team was called the the scene to determine whether the unconscious man was overcome by fumes.After being removed from the sewer by firefighters, the unconscious man...

Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip. Shifa, the coastal strip's largest hospital, was built while Gaza was under Egyptian rule, before 1967. During the mid-1980s the building underwent massive refurbishment as part of a showcase project to improve the living conditions of residents. Millions were invested in the project, which was overseen by Shmuel Goren, the coordinator for activities in the territories at...

Comedienne Kathy Griffin may be doomed to life on CNN's S-list after answering a heckler with a shrieking, vulgar tirade during the network's live New Year's Eve broadcast.

Customers shopping for clothes at the Charli boutique watched in amazement when two uniformed men marched in and threatened staff with criminal prosecution. Their crime? Putting out rubbish in the wrong-coloured bin bags. Council officers announced that the shop in Muswell Hill, North London, would be fined £300 after using black bags because they had run out of the grey version issued by the local authority. The designer store had been waiting since July 1 for a delivery of new bags, but by the 17th staff decided they would have to put their rotting rubbish out in four standard black...

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Department of Water and Power are expected to announce on May 15 a revised water use and management plan for this city that includes using recycled wastewater to recharge drinking water aquifers, according to a May 15 Los Angeles Times article. The new plan allocates about $1 billion for the proposed reclamation system, also known as “toilet-to-tap” or “sewer-to-spigot.” The city would recycle about 4.9 billion gallons of treated wastewater to drinking standards by 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported on May 15. Villaraigosa, who less than a decade ago opposed such...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 3, 2008 – Thousands of families in eastern Baghdad soon will have their neighborhoods free of raw sewage in the streets. Kamaliya’s new sewage system in eastern Baghdad nears completion. The improvement connects homes in eight neighborhoods to a functioning network for the first time. The Iraqi construction crew has installed pump stations, trunk lines, manholes and laterals to homes and businesses. More than 150 workers have been on the crew since the project started in 2005. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Iraqi construction workers are completing a $30 million sewer project in...

Newburgh -- US Senator Charles Schumer this morning urged the federal government to be more proactive in repairing and restructuring the nation’s aging sewage and water treatment infrastructure, and noted that the health of the public and overall economic growth of the nation could be at stake. Speaking at the City of Newburgh’s sewer plant Monday morning, Schumer noted that nearly $20 million goes into state sewage and water treatment infrastructure every year, and that the local taxpayers should not have to bear that burden. He noted that until the 1970s, the federal government sponsored programs that awarded grants and...

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2007 – U.S. military engineers have completed nearly 300 major water and sewage projects in Baghdad and across Iraq in the past few years, U.S. military officers reported. “We’re proud that we’re continuing to reach our target of providing over 1 million cubic meters of potable water per day,” said Air Force Col. Lonny Baker, water sector director for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division in Iraq. Baker is nearing the end of a six-month tour in Iraq and spoke to the media during a Baghdad news conference June 2. Key Iraqi water-treatment facilities...

Three Crew Members Killed by Toxic Gas on Cruise Ship in Los Angeles PortBy Tim Molloy Associated Press Writer Published: Sep 2, 2005 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Three members of a cruise ship crew were killed by toxic sewer gas Friday as they repaired a waste pipe aboard the ship that had just returned to the Port of Los Angeles. No passengers were injured, but 19 other crew members from Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas were examined for possible exposure to the toxic gas, authorities said. Passengers were leaving the ship at the time of the incident, the company...

A university in Shanghai is offering China's first class on homosexuality and gay culture and several hundred students have applied for the 100 openings, a professor in charge of the course said Tuesday. Professor Sun Zhongxin, one of the course's instructors at the prestigious Fudan University, said its introduction resulted from strong interest among undergraduates. "I used to teach gender study for undergraduates and found they were very interested in the topic of homosexuality," Sun said. The class is full, but "students are still applying," Sun said.

First Toilet And Sewer System Of Prehistoric Period Found In Van Anadolu Agency: 8/22/2004 VAN - The first toilet and sewer system of prehistoric period was found in an Urartian castle in Gurpinar town of eastern province of Van. In an interview with the A.A correspondent, Istanbul University Eurasian Archaeology Institute Director Prof. Dr. Oktay Belli said on Saturday that they had unearthed a toilet in the western part of Cavustepe Castle built by Urartian King Sarduri II in 764 BC. ''We revealed that Urartian architects had formed a sewer system before building the castle. The toilet and sewer system...

DefenseWatch "The Voice of the Grunt" 12-16-2003 Guest Column: Saddam the Sewer Rat By Derek C. Schneider How are the mighty fallen – II Samuel 1:25 “He was just caught like a rat” was how Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, described the capture of Saddam Hussein. Caught like a “sewer rat” is closer to the truth. That’s because in all likelihood the hole in which Saddam was hiding was not a specially built “spider hole” as commentators and even many soldiers believed. Based on my own recent work in Iraq, I know that Saddam Hussein’s...

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) _ A female fetus, apparently stillborn, was found amid sewage at a wastewater treatment plant, police said. It was the second such discovery at the North Yonkers Pump Plant in two years. An aborted male fetus was found in February 2001. An employee found the 12-inch fetus, its umbilical cord attached, while cleaning equipment Sunday night, police said. They are investigating how it got there and who is responsible. The Westchester County medical examiner's office listed the cause of death as stillbirth, pending further investigation. Last year, fetuses were found at wastewater plants in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Oklahoma,...

Iron Age pops out of KZN sewer September 06 2002 at 11:42AM Iron Age artefacts between 50,000 and 100,000 years old were unearthed while workers were digging to lay a new sewerage pipe near Amanzimtoti on Thursday. Pieces of iron smelting furnaces, slag and iron ore, arrowheads and bits of human bone had so far been found, said Gavin Anderson of the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg. Once the area had been fully excavated, the artefacts would be displayed in the museum, he said. - Sapa