DPW says troubled Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant has been in compliance for 4 straight months
BALTIMORE -- As the agency extended a consent decree with state regulators to complete several projects at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Baltimore Department of Public Works said Tuesday the troubled facility with has been in compliance with wastewater discharge standards for four straight months.
DPW said the fixes would ensure compliance once the state has returned control of the plant to the city. The consent decree will be extended until the end of the year.
In March, the Maryland Department of the Environment directed the Maryland Environmental Service to take over the plant after pollution issues were reported. Three months later, the two sides agreed to fixes at the facility, which would be carried out by the state agencies and reimbursed by the city.
The Maryland Environmental Service released a report in June saying the plant's ability to process "total suspended solids" fell by 70% after a piece of equipment became clogged, creating buildups in nine of the 11 primary settling tanks, where "primary sludge" is removed from the wastewater.
Separately, equipment used in the "dewatering process," which isolates biosolids that are then recycled as soil amendment and fertilizer, did not work properly, the report stated.
"Since the approval of the Consent Order in June, we have made substantial progress toward compliance at Back River, which we can attribute to the tremendous efforts of the 180 DPW employees at Back River alongside staff support from MES," said Jason W. Mitchell, director of DPW. "DPW looks forward to building on the success of this partnership and is optimistic about our path forward."
The most recent water samples, collected near the plant on Sept. 28, had lower levels of the bacteria E. coli and Enterococcus, and would not require a beach advisory telling residents to avoid the water, according the Maryland Department of the Enviroment.
However, four samples taken after significant rain events exceeded Beach Action Level standards, the state agency said.
In its most recent progress report, from Sept. 30, the Maryland Department of the Environment said effluent discharged from the plant showed "significant improvements" in quality.
