Violent protests break out in coastal China over rank stench from sewage treatment plant

October 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - Infrastructure development firm Subhash Projects has bagged an order worth Rs.211.95 crore from Uttar Pradesh for setting up a sewage network in Kanpur on a turnkey basis, the company said in a statement here Wednesday. The project is a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission -- a central government initiative aimed at hastening development in some cities.

October 13th, 2009 Sewage stink forces Ohio school to dismiss earlyRIVERSIDE, Ohio — A high school in Ohio had to dismiss students shortly after they arrived for the day because a plumbing problem filled the building with the smell of raw sewage. School district officials said the odor was from a restroom vent pipe that became disconnected at Stebbins High School in the Dayton suburb of Riverside.

September 3rd, 2009 UN says raw Gaza sewage poses danger for regionGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — U.N. agencies and international aid groups urged Israel on Thursday to immediately ease its Gaza Strip blockade to allow in spare parts and building materials to repair the territory's dilapidated sewage and water networks.

August 20th, 2009 ReneSola lands $706M solar project, shares jumpNEW YORK — Shares of ReneSola Ltd. jumped on Thursday on news that the Chinese solar maker scored an exclusive right to develop a $706 million, 150 megawatt solar power plant in China.

August 19th, 2009 Cesspool sewage dumped into Capri's Blue GrottoROME — Police in Italy say they have arrested two people for dumping raw cesspool sewage into the waters of Capri's Blue Grotto. The intense blue shade of the cave's waters attracts tourists, who crouch in rowboats to enter the small natural opening.

August 3rd, 2009 Metal leak at China chemical plant leaves 500 sickBEIJING — More than 500 villagers in central China have been found to have high concentrations of a dangerous metal in their bodies after a series of leaks from a chemical plant, state media reported Monday. Of the nearly 3,000 villagers living near the Changsha Xianghe Chemical Plant in Hunan province's Zhentou township, 509 people were found to have high concentrations of cadmium and 33 were hospitalized over the weekend, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh Friday admitted that the Ganga and Yamuna rivers were no cleaner now than they were 20 years ago, despite the government spending "hundreds of crores of rupees". The minister also said the pollution load on the major rivers in the country has increased over the years due to "urbanisation and industrialisation".

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The water quality of the Yamuna river has not shown "desired improvement", the government admitted Monday, despite spending Rs.872.15 crore since the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) was launched in 1993. Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh informed the Rajya Sabha: "The water quality of Yamuna has not shown the desired improvement owing to large gap between between the demand and availability of sewage treatment capacity and lack of fresh water in the river." Replying to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party member Ramdas Agarwal, Ramesh said: "Under the plan so far an expenditure of Rs.872.15 crore has been incurred and sewage treatment capacity of 753.25 million litres per day has been created." The minister added that for the river which runs through the national capital, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) "has prepared schemes for laying of interceptor sewers along three major drains namely Najafgarh, Shahdara and Supplementary, augmentation of sewage treatment capacity, interception of drains, rehabilitation of trunk sewers, laying of sewerage system in unsewered colonies and rural areas and desilting of peripheral/ internal sewers.

July 7th, 2009 Tenn. laborers buried in concrete, 1 deadLENOIR CITY, Tenn. — Authorities say one of two workers buried in concrete at a Tennessee construction site has died and the other has been taken to a hospital in critical condition.

July 6th, 2009 UN chief: Use extreme care handling China protestsGENEVA — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he is urging China and any country with violent protests to use extreme care toward citizens.

June 12th, 2009 Canadian city to stop dumping untreated sewageSEATTLE — For years, the British Columbia capital of Victoria has dumped tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage every day into the waters separating Washington state and Vancouver Island. The resulting bad publicity stood in contrast to the city of prim and proper homes, shops, gardens and tea rooms worthy of its royal namesake.

June 7th, 2009 Sewage concerns close NYC's Coney Island beachNEW YORK — Swimmers are being kept out of the water at Coney Island and nearby Manhattan Beach because of concerns about a sewage overflow. The New York City Parks Department posted signs Sunday saying swimming wasn't permitted at the two Brooklyn beaches.

May 4th, 2009 Flushing government stimulus cash down the toilet?CARBON HILL, Ill. — Sewage from toilets flows in open ditches here, spilling into back yards and even onto the lone baseball diamond where children play after school.

February 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Rs.15-billion project to decrease the levels of pollution in the Yamuna river by trapping pollutants at major sewage drains is ready to be implemented, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Tejender Khanna announced here Sunday. 'A major project costing Rs.15 billions to trap pollutants at Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) at 18 major sewage drains falling into the Yamuna river is ready for implementation to ensure that only clean water from the entire city flows into the river,' Khanna said while flagging off Yamuna Rally at Jamia Millia Islamia organised by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

January 3rd, 2009 JINAN - At least 13 people have been killed in an explosion at an illegal fireworks plant in eastern China, officials said Sunday. The blast occurred at about 4:30 p.m.