Salon.com > Sewage

Georgia town allegedly diverting sewage to black neighborhood

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Rochelle, Ga. made national headlines recently when Wilcox County high school held its first-ever integrated prom last weekend.

Now, nonprofit environmental law organization Earthjustice is targeting the town for another instance of racial discrimination: its sewage treatment.

According to Earthjustice.org, "White residents of Rochelle live on the south side of the city’s railroad track. African-Americans live on the other side." The city maintains pipes in the predominantly white neighborhood, but not the African-American side. "As a result," writes Earthjustice, "untreated sewage backs up and overflows into the streets and the yards of residents on the north side of the tracks."

“Sewage overflows my pipes and flows under my house. It’s time somebody did something about it. They [the white community] live comfortably and I want to live comfortably, too,” said Rochelle resident Rufus Howard.

Howard is one of nine Rochelle residents represented by Earthjustice, who will file a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act if the city does not resolve the issue in 60 days.

World’s tallest (and smelliest) building

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:00:00 +0000

There are lots of noteworthy facts about Dubai’s Burj Khalifa: it’s the tallest building in the world and the tallest free-standing structure in the world, and it contains an elevator that travels the longest distance in the world, to name a few. But despite all these impressive accomplishments, the Burj Khalifa has a major problem.

A poop problem.

In an interview with "Fresh Air’s" Terry Gross last month, author Kate Ascher discussed her recently published book on the skyscraper (via Boing Boing):

Walking in a fecal wonderland

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:37:00 +0000

Winter brings wonderland dreams of pristine, snow-covered landscapes. At the Arizona Snowbowl resort, you can ski on it. You can sip hot chocolate gazing upon it. You can even get married on it.

But you might not want to make snow cones out of it. Because this year at Snowbowl, that twinkling white powder will be made from human sewage.

Three cheers for America’s innovative capitalists, who are leading the world in turning shit into snow. This year, the Arizona ski resort, located near Flagstaff, will become the first ever to charge humans to glide about in their own waste: 100% pure sewage effluent. How’d you like to face-plant in that?

If that’s not horrible enough, the mountain is sacred to Native Americans, who are outraged over its desecration. Navajo Klee Benally has spent years fighting the resort’s expansion. But in February, a federal appeals court ruled in favor the plans, which had been opposed by 13 Native American tribes and environmental groups.