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The state of Maryland and local governments in the Baltimore area have spent about $1 billion on the city鈥檚 Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants over the past decade. So when Sen. Guy Guzzone (D-Howard), chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee, first heard about multiple water pollution problems at the Back River plant earlier this year, he was alarmed 鈥斅燼nd chagrined.
鈥淲e consider ourselves partners in this,鈥� Guzzone said of himself and his colleagues in the General Assembly. 鈥淭hat we had to read about it in the newspaper wasn鈥檛 ideal. When we invest a billion dollars, we have a responsibility, as members of the legislature, as fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars, to know what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
罢丑别听聽has attracted headlines, handwringing and government scrutiny for the past several months, as officials labor to bring the plant, which serves Baltimore City and Baltimore County and plays a major role in protecting the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways, back into compliance with state and federal laws. On Wednesday, the Budget and Taxation Committee, along with several state and local officials, toured the Back River plant and heard about the city鈥檚 efforts to improve conditions there.
Sen. Cory McCray (D), chair of Baltimore City鈥檚 Senate delegation, noted that Back River was considered a state of the art wastewater treatment plant in the 1950鈥檚 and 鈥�60s.
鈥淔olks lost confidence in this facility in a very public way,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he question is, how do you get it back? As you set these timelines and these goals for improvements, you have to have it done in a very transparent way.鈥�
But the lawmakers weren鈥檛 there to point fingers or re-litigate some of the deficiencies that caused the plant to fall out of compliance with environmental compliance. Instead, they used the tour to learn about city efforts to make necessary improvements at the plant and to consider ways the state can lend a hand in the months ahead.
The tour itself, through the massive plant grounds just off of Eastern Aveue over the city line in Baltimore County, was also meant to teach the uninitiated about how a wastewater treatment plant is supposed to work.
鈥淚 hope you get a sense of the vastness and complexity of wastewater treatment in general and the Back River plant in particular,鈥� said Yosef Kebede, head of the Baltimore City Department of Public Works鈥� Water and Wastewater division.
The visuals were impressive, but to the untrained eye, it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, as tour vans moved past facilities housing grit removal machines, primary settling tanks, activated sludge reactors, gravity belt thickeners, and more. The various buildings and machinery emitted mysterious and sometimes unpleasant odors. Still, it was an educational experience.
鈥淚 feel like my IQ went up today,鈥� said Sen. Melony Griffith (D-Prince George鈥檚), as the committee鈥檚 2 1/2-hour visit came to an end. 鈥淢ost people will never know the terminology and acronyms, processes and systems, but at the end of the day, it鈥檚 a public health issue.鈥�
At the most basic level, 鈥渨astewater treatment is the separation of solids and water,鈥� explained Michael Hallmen, acting director of the Water Treatment Division at the Baltimore City Department of Public Works. At each stop on the tour, he explained what the hulking machinery was meant to do, whether it was removing solids from the water, sifting various levels of sand, or collecting sludge. At the final stop, the officials looked over a filtration area where the wastewater is cleaned before being sent through a waterway out to the Back River, a tributary of the Chesapeake.
The good news, city and state environmental officials said, is that the water exiting the plant is now in compliance with federal and state regulations 鈥� and it looked clear as Hallmen and his colleagues ladled up samples for the lawmakers to see (no one was brave enough to drink it). But several other environmental challenges remain, including the fact that storage tanks are still taking in too many solids.
The problems 鈥渄idn鈥檛 happen overnight, and they couldn鈥檛 be solved overnight,鈥� Hallmen said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not even half done. The key was to get the water right first.鈥�
The plant also faces multiple operational challenges, including aging equipment and infrastructure and staff shortages that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. About 30% of the jobs at the plant are vacant, officials said. The problems, they added, aren鈥檛 endemic to Baltimore, but they do make operating and fixing the plant more time-consuming and costly.
In an interview, Guzzone said his committee is 鈥済oing to put some thought鈥� into whether the wastewater treatment plants need more state aid.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want government operations to be in that kind of position where they鈥檙e breaking down,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to make sure the planning is there and the funding is there.鈥�
Sen. Sarah Elfreth (D-Anne Arundel), a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee and chair of the regional Chesapeake Bay Commission, regarded the filtration area, gazed in the distance to the Back River, and shook her head.
鈥淭his is the part of government that no one wants to think about until it fails,鈥� she said.
