Council drills DPW on water contamination crisis, director promises changes

BALTIMORE - The Baltimore City Council held its first oversight hearing with the city's Department of Public Works over its handling of the water contamination crisis earlier this month.

"The communication, as far as I'm concerned, was completely abysmal," Councilman Eric Costello said. "(I'm) extremely disappointed from first 48 hours."

DPW Director Jason Mitchell laid out the timeline of positive tests and public notification. Following a second positive E.coli test on  Sunday, Sept. 5 at 9 a.m., the city waited until Monday at 4:30 p.m. to issue a Boil Water Advisory.

"DPW was in violation of the requirements to provide notifications," Costello said, citing the Safe Water Drinking Act's 24-hour deadline to notify the public.

Mitchell said the agency is making changes to its communications team and undergoing crisis training, and the agency will begin to post monthly water testing results on its website.

"We did struggle the first 24 hours. We struggled. We needed help," Mitchell said. "We learned a lot of lessons. I learned a lot of lessons as director, this being my first emergency as director."

Mitchell said the agency is still investigating the cause of the contamination.

The city's health commissioner testified the city is not aware of anybody who got sick from contaminated water. A member of the public testified his dog got sick from drinking the water.

"I blame just about every single agency, because, to me, there needs to be communication between the agencies," Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton said. "There were clear problems with our older adult population, especially with distributing water."

 Officials explained why they did not send out push alerts to phones, saying in part they did not want to alarm a wide audience.

Another hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22 at 2 p.m., which Costello hinted would include the city's communication with the Maryland Department of the Environment.