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Raw sewage
pours into Herring Run
Baltimore Sun -
2/27
City
workers struggled last night to contain a huge overflow that has
sent at least 30 million gallons of raw sewage pouring into Herring
Run in Northeast Baltimore, the result of a blockage in a 3-foot-wide
pipe.
Health warnings were posted yesterday along parts of a 6-mile
stretch of the waterway, which flows into the Back River near
Essex.
"This
may be the biggest one in my 10 years," Dr. Peter L. Beilenson,
the city health commissioner, said of the spill -- enough to fill
45 public swimming pools.
A
passer-by discovered the backup under the Harford Road Bridge
in Herring Run Park on Monday afternoon and notified the Herring
Run Watershed Association, which in turn alerted the city Department
of Public Works.
"It
was quite a show," said Richard Hersey, executive director
of the watershed association who saw the spillage spewing through
a manhole under the bridge and into the stream.
After
determining the magnitude of the spill, public works officials
notified the city Health Department yesterday morning, which then
posted warnings to avoid contact with the water. The signs will
stay posted until the water tests safely. The state Department
of the Environment also has been notified.
The
spill occurs nearly a year after the U.S. Department of Justice
filed a lawsuit that said Baltimore repeatedly violated the federal
Clean Water Act by discharging more than 100 million gallons of
sewage in the past six years. The settlement requires the city
to make an estimated $940 million in repairs over 14 years --
costs that will be passed on to customers of the city water system.
The city also agreed to pay a $600,000 fine.
The
block in the pipe caused 20 million to 25 million gallons of raw
sewage to pour into the stream over the 36 hours before public
works crews installed pumps around the blockage to divert the
overflow into the sewer, Beilenson said. The installation of the
pumps slowed the seepage to 2 million gallons a day, he said.
A third pump arrived yesterday to alleviate the remaining runover.
"The
problem with this line is there's a lot of water in it, so it
takes a lot of equipment to handle it," John Lancey, project
supervisor for Godwin Pumps, based in Upper Marlboro, said at
the spill site yesterday. The day's light snow made for unfavorable
conditions for Lancey and the other dozen or so workers on site,
but he said it wasn't hindering efforts.
"We'll
be here until we get it fixed," he said. "We operate
the pumps 24 hours a day." Lancey said the pumps would work
through the night to try to alleviate the problem. He would also
remain on site, as he did overnight Tuesday.
A
heavy-duty vacuum is expected to arrive today to "bust loose"
the clog in the pipe, said public works spokesman Kurt L. Kocher.
"It is such a large mass that we have in this line. ... Hopefully,
that will clear it."
Baltimore's
wastewater treatment system is often overwhelmed during heavy
rains. Storm sewers and sewage pipes are connected in Baltimore.
In Baltimore County and elsewhere, those systems are separate.
Kocher
said the blockage may have been caused by debris washed into the
pipe in the aftermath of the region's record 28-inch snowfall
and subsequent flooding and rain.
"It's
probably directly related to that," he said. "Thirty
million gallons is quite bad as far as the spills we've had in
recent years. This is major. It's unusual."
"Nothing
good can be said about it, but at least it's fortunate it's not
occurring in the warmer months when it's more likely" children
and pets would be playing by the stream, he said. But health officials
worried that coliform bacteria in the water would stress wildlife.
Richard
Giza, 54, who lives in the area, said he was very concerned about
the spill.
"I
think it's a pretty bad effect on the environment," Giza
said. "The Herring Run stream does feed a lot of fish and
animals, occasionally foxes and raccoons and possums. Also, it's
a threat because I know that kids do get near the water and also
people walk their dogs there, too."
Hersey
of the Herring Run Watershed Association said he was distressed
that the public had not been notified by the city Health Department
until yesterday.
The
environmental watchdog group and the city reached a legally binding
consent decree last year, after an investigation of the water's
E. coli levels by the watershed association. The consent decree
requires the city to make public information about sewage spills.
In
this case, Hersey said the city complied, but a time lag appeared
to develop as word of the Herring Run spill traveled from the
city Department of Public Works to the Health Department. "I
just wish it was more prompt," Hersey said.
Kocher
said public works officials followed standard procedure and thanked
the association for its prompt reporting of the incident.
City
health officials have warned residents in the past to stay away
from urban streams because of runoff.
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