Do You Swim in Poo? (H.R. 2452, S. 2080)

Next week, Food & Water Watch is releasing a new report about how lack of funding for aging sewer pipes and treatment plants in states around the country could mean we are heading for a public health crisis. Most of us don’t think that much about the sewer lines, unless a main breaks. But, but in many communities, sewers carry rain water as well as the nasty stuff and overflows from heavy storms spill 1.28 trillion gallons of waste, bacteria, and toxic chemicals into our waterways every year.

Not only is the problem serious, the problem is invisible. How would you know if a sewer was overflowing into your river? It seems that, unless your state or county has a law about it, no one is required to tell you. Are we depending on our sense of smell? That obviously doesn’t work because EPA estimates between 1.8 million and 3.5 million people get sick from swimming, fishing, or boating in sewage-contaminated water.

Last week, Senator Lautenburg (NJ) introduced a bill in the Senate (S. 2080) to match one introduced this spring by Representatives Bishop (NY) and Lobiondo (NJ) in the House of Representatives (H.R. 2452) to make sure you get notified. It’s called the Raw Sewage Overflow Right-to-Know Act. You can read a nice summary by OMBWatch here.