Baltimore To Receive $1.2 Billion In Sewer Upgrades By 2030

Residents of Baltimore may finally be able to relax a little when it comes to their beloved city’s crumbling sewer system.

Baltimore City has reached an agreement, according to WBALTV, with federal and state environmental agencies to reduce the amount of sewage that overflows in the city in less than five years.

The agreement is a modification to the 2002 consent decree between the Department of the Environment, the U.S. EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the city of Baltimore. It would set deadlines for completion of an estimated $2 billion in work by the city to improve its sewer system, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).

The agreement also calls for greater public transparency, including improved public notification by Baltimore of sewage overflows.

“This mandate for clean water and public accountability means less sewage in basements, streets and waterways and more progress for the Chesapeake Bay,” Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles said in a press release. “Upgrading the sewers and greening the City will improve public health and environmental quality, and that’s good news for all of us.”

The proposed modification establishes a two-phase approach, with an estimated 83 percent of the city’s remaining sewer overflow volume to be eliminated by January 2021 under the first phase, WBALTV reported.

“It is work we must do to secure the long-term future of our critical infrastructure, and to make sure Baltimore’s waterways are as clean as we can make them," Baltimore Department of Public Works director Rudy Chow said in a statement.

The Baltimore Brew reported that according to the new agreement, much of the major work that is not yet completed is to be done by 2021 and 2022, including eliminating a flow restriction at the Back River treatment plant that backs up sewage for miles in an underground pipe during times of heavy rainfall.

The Environmental Integrity Project, a “watchdog group” expressed disappointment at the length of time that Baltimore will be able “to comply” with the 2002 consent decree aimed at stopping decades of raw sewage.

“It is disappointing that this proposed revision to Baltimore’s sewage consent decree drags out the deadline 14 years into the future for a project the city has already had 14 years to finish, and which was supposed to be completed six months ago,” Spokesman Tom Pelton told Baltimore Brew.

Water Online recently reported on “sewage geysers” that have plagued area homes.

To read more about sewer overflows visit Water Online’s Stormwater Management Solutions Center.