Baltimore Agrees to Stop Shitting in the Bay

Maryland, U.S. reach agreement with Baltimore City to curtail sewer overflows, improve water quality

The Maryland Department of the Environment and its federal partners have reached an agreement with Baltimore City to greatly reduce the amount of sewage that overflows in the City within less than four years.

The agreement – a proposed modification to the 2002 consent decree between the Department of the Environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice and the City – would set deadlines for completion of an estimated $2.5 billion in work by the City to improve its sewer system. The agreement notes that modeling shows more than 80 percent of sewage overflow volume will be addressed by projects to be completed by the start of 2021.

The agreement provides for greater public transparency, including improved public notification by the City of sewage overflows and the construction work it is doing to reduce them. It also establishes an expedited reimbursement process for cleanup of sewage backups in homes.

Four years? I'll believe it when I see it.