Maryland Files Suit Seeking Cleanup Of Baltimore's Troubled Sewage Plants

Annapolis MD

07 February, 2022

11:53 AM

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By Timothy B. Wheeler, the Chesapeake Bay Journal Feb 2, 2022 Just a few days after being accused of lax oversight of polluters, the Maryland Department of the Environment filed suit against the city of Baltimore that alleges numerous and ongoing discharge violations at the state's two largest wastewater treatment plants. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 21 in Baltimore Circuit Court, seeks civil penalties and an injunction requiring the city to take "all steps necessary" to come into compliance with its state-issued permits. The Back River and Patapsco River plants together discharge about 250 million gallons of treated sewage daily into the rivers, both tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. The state's court filings charge the plants with exceeding discharge limits repeatedly, some as far back as 2017, for nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria and other pollutants. They also accuse the city of failing to report sampling results, failing to provide adequate operating staff and failing to run the plants efficiently or conduct needed maintenance. "Wastewater treatment plants are critical in our efforts to improve the health of the Bay, and they must adhere to state permits and environmental laws," said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, whose office filed the suit on behalf of MDE. State action comes after water quality monitoring last spring by Blue Water Baltimore found elevated bacteria levels and floating fats, oil and grease near the outfall for the Patapsco wastewater treatment plant. The watchdog group reported its findings to MDE, which through a series of inspections from May through December observed extensive violations of both plants' discharge permits as well as serious maintenance and staffing problems at both facilities. The problems came to light on Aug. 30 when Blue Water released MDE inspection reports for both plants along with an MDE letter to the city demanding immediate corrective action. The apparent delay in state action has raised questions about the adequacy of MDE's regulatory oversight. On Jan. 18, three days before the lawsuit was filed, MDE Secretary Ben Grumbles was grilled by state senators over this and other compliance and enforcement issues that have arisen in the past year. At the hearing, Grumbles acknowledged "recent missteps" and vowed to increase both the number of inspectors and inspections overseeing poultry farms and public drinking water systems. Grumbles said in a press release announcing the lawsuit that his department's top enforcement priority is "getting the city's world-class treatment plants back into compliance immediately, so we stay on track with the 2025 Chesapeake Bay restoration goal." MDE regulators are "continuing to increase oversight of the city's Department of Public Works since we uncovered the full scope of the problem," he added, noting that they're doing so "in coordination with nongovernmental organizations." But Josh Kurtz, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, faulted MDE for not catching the plants' problems sooner and said it was part of a pattern. At the Senate hearing, lawmakers also questioned MDE's diligence in overseeing a problem-plagued chicken-rendering plant on the Eastern Shore and failing to act to prevent oysters from being harvested from a Southern Maryland creek fouled by a sewage overflow, which resulted in more than two dozen people being sickened after eating the raw shellfish. "MDE must accept responsibility for the agency's past failures to adequately inspect and enforce violations at these and other major pollution permit holders in a timely manner," Kurtz said. Fixing the problems at the Baltimore plants is just an initial step, he said. "Moving forward," he added, "MDE must drastically increase inspections and enforcement, as well as work judiciously to update expired 'zombie' pollution permits at facilities throughout the state." Blue Water Baltimore had already filed suit against the city in federal court in December, alleging ongoing violations at the two sewage plants. MDE also notified city officials in January of its intent to sue in federal court, but the department's news release said that it plans to pursue the state court case for the time being. The city submitted a plan last fall for coming into compliance, but the timeline indicated it could take years to fix all of the problems. The MDE release said state regulators have been working to accelerate the timeline for needed improvements. Grumbles also wrote to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, urging him to use some of the more than $641 million the city received in COVID stimulus funding to pay for repairs and upgrades at the plants. Through the lawsuit, MDE said it aims to get "an enforceable legal agreement that ensures the highest level of accountability, including serious financial penalties." The lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day, which with dozens of violations alleged over hundreds of days could yield millions of dollars in fines. An email seeking comment from the city's Department of Public Works and Office of Law drew no response. In response to Blue Water's lawsuit in December, deputy city solicitor Darnell Ingram said only that officials were aware of it and looking into its allegations. The Chesapeake Bay Journal is a nonprofit news organization covering environmental issues in the Bay region. Sign up for a free subscription at BayJournal.com.