"Déjà Poo All Over Again"

"The EPA is considering a controversial process to deal with sewage overflows. Again."

"Last month, in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ final game of spring training, a pool of sewage appeared on the team’s field in Chavez Ravine. The odor was so foul—also literally in foul territory—that the game was cut short in the fifth inning. The Dodgers officially earned the victory over their crosstown rivals, the Angels, but the result was hardly satisfying. “Crappy way to end the spring,” quipped pitcher Ross Stripling.

In a statement the next day, Dodgers management vaguely cited “issues with the drainage system” and said the team was “confident that there will be no further issues.” The season began as planned. Last week, the Dodgers announced that they will host the 2020 All-Star Game. The rancid pool has not returned—yet.

This is exactly how America more broadly has dealt with its poop problem for decades: wait for spills to happen, clean it up, and go on with life. But America’s infrastructure is getting older and leakier; metropolitan-area populations are booming; and climate change is causing bigger rainfall events that more frequently overwhelm decaying sewers. Wastewater contaminated with dangerous microbial bacteria—not to mention nutrients, metals, and pharmaceuticals—is increasingly overflowing into streets and bodies of water."

Emily Atkin reports for the New Republic April 19, 2018.