Politics & Government

Impact of Baltimore County Sewage Spills on Chesapeake Limited

Sewage overflows underscore need to maintain aging infrastructure, experts say.

The amount of sewage spilled into the Patapsco River in the last month seemed substantial but ultimately will not have long-lasting effects on the water quality of the Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Bay, according to environmental experts.

However, the recent failures highlight the need to address an aging infrastructure that many take for granted.

On Sept. 17, during the repair of a leaking seam in a 40-foot length of a 54-inch “force main” pipe in Baltimore Highlands.

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During Hurricane Irene, power loss at 12 pumping stations resulted in the .

On Aug. 27, allowed about 100 million gallons of sewage to flow into the Patapsco River—the largest sewage spill since at least 2005.

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“It’s a big number, for sure,” said Ronald D. Neufeld, an environmental engineer at University of Pittsburgh. Spills on the scale of those in Baltimore County recently “are not routine events,” he said.

Fortunately, Neufeld said, the sewage was diluted by large volumes of rainwater and flowed into large bodies of water.

Jenn Aiosa, Maryland senior scientist at Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said that over the long term, the impact of the sewage flows on the Bay is less significant than the contamination from runoff, streams and groundwater that occurs across the Chesapeake watershed on a daily basis.

“Any time one hears about millions of spilled sewage, it is not a good thing. But it creates a problem of perception versus reality,” Aiosa said. “We need people to be concerned about their water on a routine basis.”

Untreated sewage provides an excess of nutrients that can promote the overgrowth of algae and other organisms that starve the water of oxygen and limit the penetration of sunlight, according to Aiosa.

However, the impact of the sewage spills is not as dramatic as it seems, she said.

“Sewage is readily diluted,” Aiosa said. “The Inner Harbor already is a polluted body of water.”

The sewage overflow highlights a need for critical investment in an aging infrastructure that requires repair and maintenance, Neufeld said.

“Ruptures of water and sewer lines are happening more frequently,” he said.

Almost 35 million gallons of sewage are produced in Baltimore County every day, according to the Department of Public Works.

Miles of increasingly larger underground pipes carry sewage to two treatment plants in Baltimore City—the Back River Treatment Plant on the east side and the Patapsco Treatment Plant on the west side.

“You can’t just put those pipes in the ground and forget about them,” said Eric Michelson, executive director of the Anne Arundel County-based South River Coalition and a member of the statewide Clean Water, Healthy Families campaign.

The county maintains 115 pumping stations to raise sewage over geologic barriers, according to public works spokesperson David Fidler. During Hurricane Irene, power failure at a dozen pumping stations allowed sewage to spill into 10 Baltimore County waterways.

According to Michelson, no sewage spills occurred in Anne Arundel County during Hurricane Irene.

In 2005, Baltimore County signed a consent decree with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and paid a $750,000 fine to settle violations of the Clean Water Act.

The consent decree outlines a range of steps required of the county to prevent overflows and maintain the integrity of its sewage pipes and pumping stations.

According to a database of sewage overflows reported to the Maryland Department of the Interior, there have been almost 900 sewage spills in Baltimore County since the consent decree was signed in 2005.


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