"Ron Thornton" wrote in message news:21565-3F3A57AE-

I dive with several of the Virginia environmental agents. These guys
are well educated and very experienced. They say that the big problem
is the polluted runoff from our roadways and parking lots (gas, oil,
transmission and brake fluid, etc.). Second is the nutrient runoff from
thousands of miles of river front farms and the lawns of homes from
fertilizer. All of this goes into our waterways either directly or thru
storm drains. There opinions come from long term real studies not just
hearsay. They don't say it point blank, but they insinuate that sewage
is very manageable by comparison.

That's true--chemical and fertilizer runoff is a bigger problem. Sewage is
more a problem for human health (in using beaches and eating shellfish) than
a problem that damages the environment (except that combined sewer overflows
also contain a lot lawn and parking lot runoff). But the fact that these
are bigger (and different) problems doesn't mean that we shouldn't do
anything about sewage.

Mark