This Just In...

Kevin, you're missing the bigger picture here.  Sure, dumping sewage into the lake is bad for business, but it doesn't pose nearly the health risks that medications do when they find their way into our water supply.  This isn't about medications being bad for the lake; it's about those medications being bad for us when they find their way into our water.

Here's a link, if you're interested:

www.thirdage.com/.../ALT02080320-01.html

Sure it's bad for the water supply. But read the MMSD flyer. We're helping Lake Michigan by refraining from sending medications down the drain.

I really wish the environmentalists would get angry and passionate about the raw sewage issue. They are relatively, and hypocritically, silent.

Mr.Z, I could be wrong, but you seem to be one of the more responsible, reasonable liberal bloggers. Maybe you can explain why there is little to no outrage from the left about the MMSD dumping...

While I am fully aware of the problem of drugs in our water system, and have blogged on this issue in the past, I am also aware of how the problem is as old as the hills and how ignorant the general population is regarding the fact that they shouldn't flush drugs.  A simple label directly on the medication cap could help as a reminder.

I don't need MMSD helping me to solve this problem until they can help me not worry about drinking water with CRAP in it.

And as serious as the problem of antibiotic resistance is....I would rather take my chances than worry about e-coli and other illnesses I can get from raw sewerage being dumped in the water.  MMSD may say we have the cleanest water around...but I will never forget March of 1993.  It was never acknowledged where the source of crypto was.  

"The official toll: 403,000 sickened, 44,000 doctor visits, 4,400 hospitalized, more than 100 deaths, 725,000 lost work or school days, $96 million in lost wages and medical expenses. The source of the germ that sickened them still isn't known and probably never will be."

www2.jsonline.com/.../131542.asp

There are many environmentalists in Milwaukee who care about keeping sewage out of our rivers and Lake Michigan, and out of our drinking supply.  Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers, along with our partner Alliance for the Great Lakes, have two separate lawsuits against MMSD for sewage dumping incidents.

See our website for news related to sewage dumping and other clean water issues:

www.mkeriverkeeper.org

Glad to hear it.

I wish there were more, and I wish they were far more vocal.

It's depressing to hear of sewage dumpings during large rain events. The long term impact on the environment will be catastrophic. It is obvious that MMSD is to blame for the actual release of the untreated or partially treated water because it is what everyone writes about. It would be refreshing to see someone willing to write about the real reasons that the dumpings occur. If we continue to allow unchecked development that replaces every inch of green space with concrete and other impervious surfaces, the problem will only continue to get worse because the water has no other place to go. Why not write about the absence of any real Green Development Initiatives in Milwaukee? Providing strict requirements for new buildings including greenspace, green roofs, rainwater collection systems, etc. will prevent the water from entering the sewer system in the first place. The problem has a solution and its not building a Deeper Tunnel.