Maryland Environmental Service staff is expected to remain on-site at Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant through April 30 under a new agreement between MES and the Baltimore City Department of Public Works.
If the Baltimore City’s Board of Estimates (BOE) approves the agreement at its meeting next Wednesday, the state’s environmental service would remain at the plant through the spring.
The state also has plans to establish a consent decree that will give them power to regulate sites at both Back River and Patapsco River, expanding its attention to another wastewater plant the city operates that can contribute to pollution in waterways.
If the consent decree is adopted, the MES presence at the Back River plant could continue past April 30.
The new agreement comes after a yearlong conflict between the city-owned Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Maryland Environmental Service that saw the state take over operational control of the plant from the verge of “catastrophic failure.”
“The Maryland Department of the Environment and Baltimore City leadership have reached an agreement on a second amendment to the consent order relating to the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Maryland Environmental Services’ presence there,” said MDE spokesperson Jay Apperson.
Apperson says his department and Baltimore City are in continued discussions to reach a settlement to resolve MDE’s suit against the City to stop unauthorized discharges of pollution from the Back River and Patapsco sewage treatment plants.
The subject of whether state oversight will continue at Back River’s plant has been contentious since their initial agreement expired at the end of December 2022.
Since then, elected officials have speculated on the plant’s future with many community members and elected representatives expressing concern over the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) retaining complete control of Back River’s plant.
Del. Ric Metzgar has remained a vocal opposer to the state’s environmental service relinquishing their oversight to Baltimore City.
According to a statement from Metzgar, the state of Maryland and Baltimore City were scheduled to convene on January 18, concerning further details and the status of the plant to ensure the plant is in compliance with effluent levels within permitted levels and all the appropriate state regulations.
Metzgar says he “has been actively involved with meeting and working with the Back River Wastewater Treatment Facility officials, to bring the plant into compliance and resolve the discharge issue.”
Last year, county Councilman Todd Crandell and Metzgar have written letters co-signed by Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, Del. Bob Long and Del. Robin Grammer requesting that the state maintain oversight of the plant.
Meanwhile, advocacy groups like the Back River Restoration Committee (BRRC) are elated to see state officials remain on site, while also voicing their disappointment of MES not having a permanent presence at the sewage treatment plant.
“We are happy that they are there, while it may not be in the capacity in which we hoped for, at least we still have those eyes on the ground helping us to remain aware of what is happening at the plant,” said BRRC project manager Desiree Greaver.
Through MES oversight, there has been documented progress ongoing at Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In a recent January progress report, the city’s DPW says one of the plant’s primary settling tanks were fully restored in December last year, where two more settling tanks will y return to service by next month.
Meanwhile, workers at the treatment plant have started a training program that will run through June, as participants will have two days a week of class room instruction and three days of follow-through at one of the plants to gain field experience.
The new agreement between the state and Baltimore City was announced after the city’s DPW director Jason Mitchell submitted a resignation from his position amid pressure from the city council. According a news release, Mitchell’s resignation will go into effect later this year, in April.
