Fresh Water, Foul Sewage

How good a job is Baltimore doing supplying residents with clean, affordable water and making changes that will finally ends its practice of releasing trash and millions of gallons of human waste into local waterways and Chesapeake Bay?

Baltimore City and County residents will pay more for water beginning in July

Sharing the same water system, the two jurisdictions calculate and charge utility fees in starkly different ways.

Now-empty Lake Ashburton will be refilled, Baltimore officials vow. But when, no one will say

Somewhere between “several months” from now and “winter 2024” were the answers offered by DPW for the return of water to a landmark amenity in West Baltimore.

Century-old pipe, which carries the sewage of a million area residents, needs more emergency repairs

Another construction project at the Baltimore-owned Back River plant that has dragged on for years as costs climb.

Scott administration entered into secret contracts to operate the Back River sewer plant with private consultants

A $50 million contract to operate part of the facility – disclosed by The Brew – was part of a larger pattern of hidden deals.

City to enter into $50 million contract for private management of Back River biosolids

In a surprise move, Baltimore brings in a Colorado company to take over the plant’s long-troubled operations.

City to settle two cases of negligence and neglect by Baltimore DPW

A water pipe break that flooded the Howard Street Tunnel and an open pipe that had raw sewage flowing over machinery at the Back River treatment plant cost taxpayers nearly $300,000.

Restoration of Baltimore’s Stony Run is failing again, residents and scientists say

After millions of dollars spent on re-channeling the stream to slow runoff, critics say a new approach is needed.

A bathroom break in Curtis Bay costs Baltimore taxpayers $100,000

City admits a Spiniello worker dumped sewage into a CSX drainage ditch while its inspector was indisposed. CSX says dumping of foul brown liquid happened multiple times.

After missing deadline, Baltimore’s Lake Ashburton reservoir tanks now operational, EPA says

No response from the Department of Public Works about the status of the project or whether a similar undertaking at Druid Lake reservoir will meet its December 30 federal deadline.

Much-delayed Ashburton Reservoir tank project won’t be finished by EPA deadline

The work was to be completed by today, but DPW says it’s been delayed by the finding of “slightly elevated chlorine and pH levels” and now may be completed “within the next two weeks.”

Citizen inspectors? Baltimore DPW wants city and county residents to check 230,000 service pipes for lead

Residential self-surveys are part of a plan to eventually remove lead pipes from the metropolitan water system. UPDATED with response by DPW.

Settlement aims to police Baltimore’s polluting sewage treatment plants – after city and state failed to

Blue Water Baltimore is hopeful a new consent decree will help finally fix two city-run facilities that remain troubled.

Where to find Baltimore’s weekly cryptosporidium test results

An unpublicized DPW web page informs residents of the results of testing for the presence of parasites at two city reservoirs. The latest results are negative.

Latest test shows no traces of cryptosporidium in the Druid Lake Reservoir

But amid concern after a previous sample came back positive, DPW is still advising imunocompromised people to drink only boiled or bottled water “out of an abundance of caution”

Ahead of cryptosporidium finding in Druid Lake, city was told repeatedly to end open-air drinking water storage

Baltimore only started testing in late July because EPA ordered DPW to do so. Residents ask why disclosure of the parasite was not made for two days.

Q&A with DPW on cryptosporidium detected in Druid Lake

The take-away: when it comes to monitoring for contamination and communicating to the public, Baltimore is doing only what the state requires of them and not much more.

MDE comes up empty-handed in its investigation of the Roland Run fish kill

The report notes that the fish kill was traced to a stormwater outfall located near a swim club. The pool owner denied discharging chlorinated water, and the source of the discharge remains unknown, MDE says.

750 fish found dead in Roland Run in Riderwood

What killed the fish has not yet been determined, says MDE, after “tons of them” were seen floating at the start of the holiday weekend.

Following Blue Water lawsuit, Maryland sues Fleischmann’s for pollution discharges in Jones Falls

The vinegar company must stop releasing chlorinated, acidic water into the Jones Falls and disconnect its illegal connection to Baltimore’s stormwater system, MDE lawsuit says.

Clean Harbors says it will not process East Palestine wastewater in Baltimore

Decision comes after the Scott administration – under fire over the proposal – denied the company’s application to send the pre-treated water to the Back River sewage plant.

Cohen and Porter join protest against Ohio derailment water being shipped to Baltimore

Council members say pushing back against a federal plan to send the contaminated water to the city is an environmental justice issue.

Environmentalists decry plan to bring East Palestine derailment water to Baltimore

Critics call it wrong – even “crazy” – to send contaminated water from the Ohio train disaster to the troubled Back River sewage plant. Scott calls it assisting in “a national emergency.”

Back River’s sewage sludge problems were well known for years

PART 2: Baltimore drew national mockery in 1989 with its “poo poo choo choo,” a trainload of sewage sludge that raised a stink in a series of southern states. “Biosolids management” problems are cropping up again.

Advocates call sludge-clogged Back River sewage plant “a ticking time bomb”

PART 1: After last week’s explosion at the Baltimore-run facility, environmental groups and a local lawmaker fear the systemic problems behind the blast still have not been corrected.

BREAKING: Head of Baltimore’s sewer and water operations to step down

Yosef Kebede’s departure comes on the heels of an explosion at the Back River sewage treatment plant and months of staff turnover.

Today’s explosion was a major setback for troubled Back River sewage plant

The blast takes offline a facility that processes 70% of the sludge produced at the plant, historically a cause of illegal sewage releases.

What’s in a name? Too much sewage, says Baltimore’s Back River community

Often ridiculed because of their proximity to the city’s poorly run treatment plant, residents want it not only taken over by a regional authority, but given a new name.

Major water main is taken offline after sinkhole appears next to Lake Montebello

A smaller workaround pipe has been activated to serve customers in East Baltimore and downtown.

By not paying a vendor’s bill, Baltimore jeopardized its drinking water, Inspector General finds

“If the water treatment chemical supply had been exhausted, an emergency health crisis would have ensued,” OIG Cumming says about a payment issue that was not publicly disclosed by the Scott administration.

Baltimore water customers getting discount promised after E. coli outbreak

City customers, who had to buy or boil water and flush their pipes during the “boil water advisory,” will get a break on their September bills.

DPW sewage assistance programs help with only a fraction of Baltimore’s basement back-ups

The agency opposes calls for the programs to be expanded. Advocates say their proposal would protect public health at a cost equivalent to 0.25% of the police budget.

Skepticism in Harlem Park after boil water advisory is lifted before city finds source of E. coli

“I’m not buying it,” declares a woman who, like many in this West Baltimore neighborhood, wants the problem figured out and fixed before she’ll go back to tap water.

Back River staff is disorganized, demoralized and sometimes asleep on the job, state report finds

Leadership attitudes, including those of DPW’s top officials, “do not bode well” for correcting “immense issues” at Baltimore sewage treatment plant, MES says.

Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles leaves under a cloud

His seven-year stint ends amid criticism over lax enforcement and mismanaged sewage treatment plants that have polluted Baltimore area waterways.

Scott administration proposes smallest water rate increase in 25 years

Yes, your bill is going up – but by a lower-than-usual percentage – as Baltimore city and county face a backlog of serious pollution problems.

MDE: Brown-orange gunk coming from Back River plant was partially treated sewage

Confirming Brew reporting, the state took samples at the discharge pipe and found suspended solids, dead plankton, high levels of bacteria and more.

What the wastewater looks and smells like coming out of the Back River sewage plant

We join a community activist who says state and city officials are not telling the truth about what the plant is releasing into the Bay.

Already troubled, Back River went downhill fast after dismissal of experienced senior staff

A former manager describes having to use a bobcat to clean sewage sludge out of clogged settling tanks.

Mayor Scott: Back River sewage plant issues “predate my administration”

But state officials said their takeover of the polluting facility came after inspectors found noncompliance had “significantly increased” in the last three months.

State takes control of Baltimore’s troubled Back River sewage treatment plant

The Maryland Department of the Environment directs the Maryland Environmental Service to take charge of the polluting plant, saying it poses a risk to public health and the environment.

After reports of dead fish and “volcanoes of black stuff” in Back River, MDE cracks down on sewage treatment plant

Citing “a precipitous decline” in the functioning of Baltimore’s Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant, Maryland orders it to come into compliance within 48 hours.

Maryland’s chief of water pollution enforcement departs after a string of embarrassing incidents

Harry E. Hunsicker III is no longer with MDE after a year marked by sewage releases, contaminated oysters, polluting poultry plants and sharp criticism over weak enforcement.

Water pollution enforcement took a nosedive under Hogan, study finds

Inspections and enforcement actions by the Maryland Department of the Environment have dropped precipitously in the past six years, according to a review by five environmental groups.

BOE approves emergency repairs for damaged sewer main

“We are constantly monitoring the condition” of the century-old pipe whose collapse could impact thousands of residents, says Baltimore DPW.

To avoid catastrophic failure, Baltimore sewer line needs $11 million in emergency repairs

The Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant got a $430 million “headworks” expansion, but documents reveal the east end of a century-old pipe leading to it is falling apart.

Baltimore again will miss deadline to implement water affordability law

“It’s discouraging,” advocates say, after DPW officials are unable to tell the Council when the 2019 Water Accountability and Equity Act will be implemented.

Q&A with DPW about the broken water line at the North Ave. CSX bridge

Water spewing from the bridge came from a broken pipe that DPW recently detected.

A water leak falls into DPW’s memory hole

The broken pipe, carrying city water from another broken pipe, created hazardous conditions under a bridge on North Avenue. Now that the leak is fixed, let’s think about the 20 billion gallons of drinking water “lost” by DPW in FY19.

Threatening a lawsuit, Blue Water Baltimore is in talks with city over sewage violations

“Aggressive action is necessary,” the watchdog group says. “These plants are discharging millions of gallons of pollution directly into local waters – in some cases over 400% the permit limits.”

Baltimore says it has corrected many sewage violations at its treatment plants

DPW attributes the release of sewage into the Chesapeake Bay to the Covid pandemic and 2019 ransomware attack and says it is working to do better.

Bad odor from a sewer system and a state agency that are failing

Maryland’s Department of the Environment has been lax – and arguably complicit – as Baltimore County welcomes development without upgrading infrastructure. [OP-ED]

Baltimore’s poor management at root of newly discovered sewage outflows into the Bay

Violations include poorly maintained equipment, bungled testing and promised upgrades that were never carried out. A watchdog asks: “Where was the oversight?”

Leaders’ Rx for Baltimore’s broken water system – a work group and more consultants

Scott and Olszewski respond to a $845,000 report that documents the city’s and county’s over-reliance on consultants to direct billions in water and sewer projects.

Bill calls for study of expanding Baltimore’s sewage backup reimbursement program

Thousands of residents experience sewage overflows thanks to the city’s aging infrastructure, but few ever get help with the clean up.

Young seeks to punt water affordability law to the next mayor

The City Council is asked to delay implementation of the Water Accountability and Equity Act until mid-2021.

DPW misses water affordability deadline, expects to miss another in July

“We blinked our eyes, and it was mid-April,” says DPW Acting Director Matthew Garbark, explaining how the agency missed the target date.

Man crushed at Druid Lake construction site was a truck driver

Circumstances of his death are under wraps by the city and trucking company. Work site has a history of environmental violations.

Another pipe break at Dead Run two days after a hearing about the last one

Baltimore officials respond quicker this time, but questions remain about continuing leakage from temporary patch.

Baltimore County groups seek sewer review, possible building moratorium

“We ask you to fulfill your campaign promise to protect our open waters, our health and our quality of life,” a citizen coalition tells County Executive Johnny Olszewski.

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The Herring Run sewer stack “blows” again

A manhole identified as the greatest “unstructured” source of sewage pollution in the Baltimore region has overflowed again.

DPW won’t come clean on Leakin Park fish kill

The person who reported chlorinated water in the creek, only to be ignored by the city, says, “I saw the stream turning dead before my eyes.”

Amid continued basement sewage backups, Baltimore still rejects most requests for reimbursement

Advocates say program made little progress towards easing the burden of Baltimore’s failing sewers. City says many didn’t follow program rules.

In a rare move, judge rejects development, citing Baltimore County’s sewer problems

EXCLUSIVE: Bluestem Village is disapproved because of infrastructure deficiencies in the Lake Roland area

Sewage spill at Lake Roland poses a test for Johnny Olszewski

Baltimore County has a stinky Achilles heel that its chief executive needs to address quickly and publicly if he is to sustain his reputation as a reformer.

An obscure manhole is an outsized source of sewage pollution in Baltimore

What’s been popping off, releasing millions of gallons of sewage this summer? A single manhole stack in Herring Run Park.

Baltimore County says it is unaware of sewage spill at Lake Roland

When The Brew visited the site today, plastic debris still fluttered on nearby tree branches and the area had a distinct smell of rotting waste.

The latest byproducts of Baltimore’s failing infrastructure: a sinkhole and snarled traffic

Today’s collapse, the Poe Homes water outage and flooding near the football stadium made the news. But low-profile water main breaks across the city cause misery, too.

Prepare for sticker shock when your next water bill comes

The region’s 1.8 million customers should expect water and sewer fees topping $300 when ransomware-delayed bills arrive, activists warn.

Housing Authority responds on Poe Homes rent abatement question

“We will address [it] as we move forward, but for now residents should pay their rent in full on July 1 as normal,” HABC director Janet Abrahahams said, through a spokeswoman. Young defers to HABC on the matter.

After days with no water at Poe Homes, some call for rent break

Angry over the lengthy water outage, residents ponder justice, but attorneys say getting compensation would be an uphill battle.

How is it “fixed?” We can’t flush our toilets!

Poe Homes residents are still struggling, more than a week after a water main break left them without water and working toilets.

Study shows disparate impact of water rates on Black Baltimore

A NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund report finds that escalating water and sewer rates hit African-American residents hardest.

With Pugh taking heat for water rate hike, DPW announces “independent review” of billing

Offered to Baltimore water customers unhappy over multiple rate hikes, opaque budgeting and inaccurate bills: one more study.

Drinks on the house

When does 2 + 2 = 5? Maybe when you’re a big-time hotel, the Marriott Waterfront, contracting water service from the city.

City releases water rate study six days after rate hike is approved

Blasted for failing to justify the latest 30% increase in Baltimore water bills, the city gives the public a consultant’s report.

Spending board, controlled by Mayor Pugh, raises Baltimore water rates again

“An open question whether these rates are justified,” Comptroller Pratt says, voting “no” along with Council President Young.

Raise Baltimore water rates again? Justify it!

City Council members call for an independent study before the spending board approves another big rate hike.

DPW explains why Baltimore’s Jones Falls turned green today

A worker investigating a water main break put dye into a storm drain, agency says.

DPW could net $215 million in surpluses from proposed water rate hike

BREW EXCLUSIVE: According to SEC-required documents, the proposed 30% increase on Baltimore residents far exceeds debt-service requirements.

Council bill promises relief from unaffordable and inaccurate water bills

Young’s proposal, offering income-based billing, comes in the wake of another planned rate hike.

Bright blue discharge, a mystery so far, flowing into Stony Run

DPW has no explanation as yet, but it’s one of Baltimore’s known troublespots for sewage overflows.

The Druid Lake and Lake Ashburton construction messes: It didn’t have to be this way

The story behind the costly, problem-plagued projects to bury reservoir water in underground tanks.

The Druid Lake construction mess: Amid high turbidity levels, MDE calls for more tests

DPW is told to do thorough testing of the water quality at the reservoir, where a $134 million project is not going as planned. FIRST OF TWO PARTS.

Total sewage overflow in July rises to 85 million gallons

A record month of rain equals record overflows of sewage into Baltimore waterways.

Keeping Baltimore’s water system public won’t cure its accountability issues

ANALYSIS: A little-known charter amendment, passed in 1978, set the city on course for a system in which checks and balances lag.

Controversial reservoir projects pile up at Baltimore DPW

ANALYSIS: The agency says the region’s drinking water is safe and plentiful, but leaves key questions unanswered.

After heavy rains, city waterways “flush” with another 10 million gallon sewage overflow

Overwhelmed and behind schedule for repair, Baltimore infrastructure again sends water-laced-with-human-waste into the Jones Falls and other waterways.

Ashburton residents revolt over tree clearing for water tank project

Another Baltimore reservoir project is stalled amid a furor over clear cutting and the presence of chromium in the soil.

Businesses evacuated, bridges closed as Jones Falls rises

Record-setting rain causes the Jones Falls to surge, prompting the closing of Whole Foods and other businesses.

DPW caught dumping chlorinated water into the Jones Falls

Last week, DPW assured the public that water being drained from the Druid Lake reservoir met all environmental standards. A surprise sampling by state regulators proved otherwise.

Project to protect city’s drinking water has so far compromised it

EXCLUSIVE: If Druid Lake remains “dirty,” the metropolitan area faces a potential shortage of safe drinking water.

Baltimore County water rates to rise 40% over next five years

EXCLUSIVE: Don Mohler uses his executive power to mandate rate increases through mid-2023. “The lack of transparency is outrageous,” says a property owners’ group.

After latest water rate hike, a call to Pugh and Young for help

A City Council bill to give poor residents a break on fast-rising water rates – promised a year ago by President Jack Young – is yet to be drafted.

9.9% water rate hike coming to city. For county residents, a double whammy.

A little-known fact of local government – how much your water and sewer rates go up each year.

DPW underreports volume of sewage dumped into the Jones Falls

VIDEO captures heavy runoff that wasn’t reported to the public or to federal and state regulators.

A byproduct of the rainy weather: sewage overflows

Baltimore’s Jones Falls gets another wallop of untreated sewage, DPW says. UPDATED.

Lawmakers approve one-year moratorium on homes going to tax sale for water bills

Advocates said the measure was stripped down after lobbying by Mayor Pugh.

Conway, Pugh blocking bill to end tax sales over water bills, supporters say

Mary Washington says election year politics – and City Hall opposition – are stalling her bill to halt tax sales over unpaid water bills.

Jones Falls gets another 5 million gallon dousing of sewage

Baltimore’s failing sewer system also sent human waste into Western Run, following heavy rainfall.

2 million gallons of sewage released into the Jones Falls

Meanwhile, city approves $172,000 to a victim of multiple basement sewage backups.

Water main break shuts Mitchell Courthouse early

DPW turned off water to several downtown blocks because the break, centered at 6. St. Paul Street, “was getting too big.”

Worst Bay polluters in seven states? Baltimore’s own sewage plants

New report documents the grease globs, blown deadlines, illegal nutrient releases and other sources of Chesapeake Bay pollution caused by treatment plants in Baltimore and beyond.

Industrial runoff fouls Chesapeake Bay, threatens health, report says

Lax state oversight permits pollution by auto salvage yards, metal recyclers and others, environmental groups find.

Sewage flows into the Gwynns Falls for nearly a week

Latest overflow caused by a collapsed sewer pipe was just blocks from a major spill that took two months to fix.

Multiple sewer leaks in a 1920s pipe finally fixed, DPW says

Gwynns Falls was recipient of 580,000 gallons of sewage water.

Jones Falls oil spill traced to BGE substation

Company “will make any needed repairs and remediation under the Maryland Department of the Environment’s oversight.”

Spilled oil flows into the Jones Falls and Inner Harbor

Petroleum-based lubricant traced to a stormwater outfall on Falls Road.

City releases 41,000 more gallons of sewage into the Jones Falls

DPW says the cause has not been determined. Could it be another “fatberg”?

Right under our noses: An environmental engineer reflects on the secret pipe at Clipper Mill

The irony of a rogue sewer line running beneath her company’s headquarters was not lost on a senior employee.

A whistleblower says he reported odors near the secret sewage pipe for years

Who knew a pipe had been cut to let wastewater flow into the Jones Falls – and when did they know it?

City finds a secret pipe discharging sewage into the Jones Fall

An environmental whodunit unfolds as the city follows the pollution trail to a one-time cotton mill near the ritzy Clipper Mill development.

Trout upstream in the Jones Falls and – sigh – sewage downstream

Baltimore’s latest release of fecal waste, 141,000 gallons, caused by a city contractor

Broken pipe spills 44,000 gallons of sewage into the Gwynns Falls

Underground leak flowed into storm sewer system and did not reach the street, DPW says.

Summer rain and the sewage that runs through it

Overflows of wastewater are spiking this summer. Most of the stuff is headed to the Jones Falls and, from there, the Inner Harbor.

City says it will reimburse victims of basement sewage back-ups

In a nod to public criticism, DPW promises to compensate residents for sewer overflows as part of federal consent decree.

Baltimore released over 7 million gallons of sewage into Jones Falls

After heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, human waste overflowed underground and on a Baltimore street.

Water service but no water – and still 19 years of bills

One Northwest woman’s experience offers a glimpse into the Orwellian world of Baltimore water bills.