Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

Inside Climate News, As Baltimore’s Sewer System Buckles Under Extreme Weather, City Refuses to Help Residents With Cleanup Efforts. Actually, it's been a pretty dry year.

A sewage cleanup program meant to assist Baltimore residents with backups in their homes has been in limbo for more than a year because of a deadlock between city authorities, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).

The haggling over the future scope of the cleanup program has left Baltimoreans in the lurch and angered advocates who accuse city officials of exaggerating the cleanup costs and misleading elected officials.

Baltimore City runs two cleanup programs aimed at providing relief to homeowners, tenants and property managers dealing with sewage backup entering their homes due to wet weather conditions and clogged public pipes.

The programs resulted from a 2017 modified consent decree between Baltimore City, the EPA and MDE, which required the city to set aside $2 million a year to help residents with the costs of sewage cleanup. The Expedited Reimbursement Program covers the cost of property cleanup caused by heavy rain and pipe capacity issues, and the Sewage Onsite Support (SOS) program, launched in 2021, directly pays third-party vendors to clean and disinfect homes when overflowing sewer pipes cause sewage to flow backward and enter homes through toilets and sinks.

Sewage backups are a recurring and expensive problem for a large number of Baltimore residents. A 2021 report by the Department of Public Works estimated at least 8,860 sewage backups in the city between 2018 and 2021 caused by problems in the city-owned sewage pipes.

The current deadlock ensued when, in 2022, the city submitted a plan to the EPA and the MDE proposing to continue only the SOS program on a long-term basis with benefits limited to backups caused by storm-related flooding. Advocates want the city to include both dry and wet weather events in its scope, including backups caused by blockages and cracks in pipes, a common and pervasive problem because of decades of neglect and under-investment in the city’s sewage system.

In May 2023, the EPA approved the city’s proposal to continue with the SOS program but required that the $2 million in cleanup assistance must include all backups, including those resulting from clogged and cracked sewage lines. “The SOS program must address all backups that originate in the sewer mainline,” the agency said in its letter.

Quoting 2021 data, the EPA letter estimated an average of 4,400 annual backups reported between 2017 and 2021. Because of the limited scope of the city’s cleanup program, the letter said, less than 20 percent of backups qualified for the SOS program, which spent only $21,019 in assistance from 2018 to 2022.

In view of the city’s miniscule spending, the EPA concluded that Baltimore could easily cover additional claims by including in its scope those backups that occur in all types of weather and from blockages in the city-owned pipes.

But DPW refused to heed the EPA’s order and has since maintained that expanding cleanup benefits went beyond requirements of the modified consent decree, leaving the agencies locked in a dispute resolution process with no end in sight.

They just had to throw in the climate nonsense. The fact is, Baltimore's sewer system is a mess a lot of it is old and decaying, and because the government of Baltimore simply doesn't want to pay for upgrading it, and paying for the consequences. They keep hoping the Federal government will step in a do it for them, and they're probably right to expect that in the long run. Meanwhile, Baltimore residents in certain areas will just have to put up the sewers backing up in their houses, and the Baltimore government to be chintzy with their aid. You get what you vote for. 

But they did find money for some "floating wetlands" in Baltimore Harbor, Bay Journal, Baltimore harbor gains “floating wetlands” and a hint of its marshy past. Actually, there's a surprising amount of wetlands near Baltimore. People just don't go there.

Maryland, My Maryland

Aneca Y. Atkinson, the new
Secretary for Environmental Justice.

MDE, Maryland Department of the Environment Appoints First Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice

Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain today announced the appointment of Aneca Y. Atkinson as the agency’s first Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice.

“Assistant Secretary Atkinson will lead the way as we reach out to communities that have disproportionately experienced pollution and put into place policies that ensure no one is left behind,” Secretary McIlwain said. “She knows how the system works and how we can focus critical resources and action toward communities that have historically been overlooked.”

Assistant Secretary Atkinson comes to the department from National Audubon Society Mid-Atlantic, where she served as director of the organization’s Delaware River Watershed Program. Prior to that, Assistant Secretary Atkinson served in several roles with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

“I can’t wait to get started on this path to making Maryland a cleaner, greener place to live for everyone,” Atkinson said. “The key to environmental justice is communication. We are listening to those who have been ignored in the past and taking action to give everyone the same access to a healthy environment.”

Assistant Secretary Atkinson led Audubon’s work to incorporate science-driven policy, advocacy, conservation, and public engagement work to increase funding for on-the-ground improvements to the watershed – with a focus on communities that have historically been excluded from greenspaces and other environmental amenities and protections.

In Pennsylvania, she managed erosion and sedimentation control and stormwater management programs. She also served as director of the Office of Program Integration, and, from 2018 to 2022, deputy secretary overseeing the Office of Water Programs. She played a critical role in developing and implementing the strategy and vision for diversity, equity, inclusion and justice.

At the Maryland Department of the Environment, Assistant Secretary Atkinson will provide expert guidance for Secretary McIlwain and other senior officials to advance environmental justice as one of the secretary’s top priorities. The department previously added an environmental justice coordinator and a liaison responsible for helping communities obtain funding and stay informed.

I hope I'm wrong, but I very much fear that the job of the office of "Environmental" Justice will be to drag discussions of racism in most environmental issues, without actually solving any problems that actually exist. 

Forget it Jake, It's Baltimore

Bay Journal,  Baltimore city agrees to pay up to $4.75 million for wastewater violations

Baltimore city has agreed to pay a penalty of up to $4.75 million to settle lawsuits filed by Maryland and an environmental watchdog group over multiple pollution and other violations at its two municipal wastewater treatment plants.

The penalty, one of the largest assessed in Maryland for water pollution violations, is part of a consent decree that city officials negotiated with the Maryland Department of the Environment and the nonprofit Blue Water Baltimore. It is to be filed in Baltimore Circuit Court once it is approved by the city’s Board of Estimates, which plans to take it up Nov. 15.

The deal announced Nov. 2 marks a critical milestone in resolving more than two years’ worth of maintenance, staffing and operations problems at the city’s Back River and Patapsco treatment plants. Blue Water Baltimore and MDE both filed lawsuits seeking to force corrective actions, and state regulators at one point took the unprecedented step of seizing control over the Back River facility.

While it's good that they're being punished for their long-term pollution of the Chesapeake Bay, I'd rather have them be forced to spend twice as much to fix the problems. 

Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

MDE, Maryland Environment Secretary McIlwain, Attorney General Brown Announce Settlement of Lawsuit over Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Maryland Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain and Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced the settlement of a lawsuit against Baltimore City to address unauthorized discharges of pollution from the state’s two largest sewage treatment plants.

The settlement includes an enforceable timeline for corrective actions at the city’s Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants. It also includes a civil penalty of $4.75 million – with nearly $2 million of that to be set aside for competitive grants to improve water quality or restore aquatic habitat in the Patapsco and Back River watersheds.

“This settlement puts us on the right path to repair and upgrade our state’s two largest wastewater treatment plants, which means healthier waterways, a healthier Chesapeake Bay, and a healthier Maryland,” said Secretary McIlwain. “We look forward to working in collaboration with Baltimore City as it puts this detailed plan for solutions into action at the Back River and Patapsco facilities. We also thank Blue Water Baltimore for the important role they have played in this agreement.”

Inspectors are observing improvements at the plants and will continue to monitor the situation and provide technical assistance for repairing and upgrading equipment. At Back River, there are currently four primary settling tanks in operation with another three scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, up from only two found operating in 2021. Over the last year and a half, nitrogen concentration discharge levels at Patapsco decreased by 85 percent, from 20 mg/l to 3 mg/l, and Back River decreased by 70 percent, from 10 mg/l to 3 mg/l.

“The resolution of this lawsuit reflects the State’s and the City’s shared commitment to the goals of protecting the health and well-being of our community and waterways,” said Attorney General Brown. “The improvements to the Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants required under the agreement are critical to furthering these goals. The Office of the Attorney General is grateful to our local partner Blue Water Baltimore for its collaboration on reaching this settlement.”

The settlement includes requirements that Baltimore City:

• Achieve necessary staffing levels to carry out operation, maintenance and testing functions of both plants
• Post quarterly updates online tracking the progress of corrective actions and work performed
• Hold at least one virtual and one in-person public meeting annually for each facility
• Install signs to notify the public of submerged wastewater treatment effluent pipes and lighting to indicate any sewage bypass and release at the plants
• Hire an independent engineer to assess plant performance

The settlement provides financial incentives to the city for completing the required corrective actions on schedule.

Does this mean the problems with Baltimore's sewage plants is over (or at least close to being over)? I hope so, but I'm skeptical.  

MD Declares Drought

But not here. Maryland Department of Environment Issues Drought Warning for Portions of State

The Maryland Department of the Environment today urged public water systems, citizens and businesses in parts of the state to continue voluntary water use restrictions as a drought watch issued earlier this summer has been upgraded to a warning.

“Water conservation is a good practice year-round, but we are asking water systems to take extra precautions as dry conditions persist,” said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain. “Consumers can help by limiting the use and duration of sprinklers for lawns, taking short showers as opposed to baths, and not leaving the faucet running while brushing your teeth. These things sound simple, but it all adds up.”

No mandatory water use restrictions have been issued by the state at this time. However, water systems may implement their own mandatory conservation measures. All of the following areas, except for regions served by Baltimore City or Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission public water systems, are under warning: Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Montgomery counties. A drought watch remains in place for Western Maryland, covering Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties.

The drought warning is based on lower-than-normal stream flows and groundwater levels for this time of year. The state increases oversight of water supply conditions, encourages voluntary water conservation practices, and updates its drought status weekly while the warning is in effect.

While the state currently has enough water to meet the needs of residents and businesses, water conservation measures are encouraged to help avoid any future water shortages.

We were getting a little crispy here until Sunday night/Monday morning, when we got 0.86 inches of rain overnight. 

Sewage Spill Closes Cambridge Oyster Grounds

See, it's not always Baltimore, MDE Issues Temporary Closure to Shellfish Harvesting in Portion of the Choptank River

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has issued an order to temporarily close a portion of the Choptank River to shellfish harvesting due to a sewage overflow.

The emergency closure, issued late yesterday, became effective immediately to prevent the harvesting of oysters and other shellfish from the area in the immediate future. It applies to about 262 acres of the Choptank River near the mouth of Jenkins Creek.

MDE was notified yesterday afternoon of a sewage overflow following heavy rains and a reported blockage at a Cambridge Wastewater Treatment Plant pumping station. The release of sewage flowed through swales and eventually a canal that drains to an area of the Choptank River that is approved for shellfish harvesting. The overflow is reported to have begun April 30 and stopped May 1. An estimated 100,000 gallons of highly diluted wastewater is estimated to have been released into the river. 

MDE is working in coordination with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. There is no known shellfish harvesting occuring at this time in the affected area. Maryland Natural Resources police will patrol to ensure no harvest occurs during the closure period.

The closure will remain in effect until May 23, when the area will be reopened for shellfish harvesting.

Well, oyster season is over anyway. But clam harvesting is potentially underway. I see from the MDE  shellfish map that the area is currently forbidden.

Does this mean they can't take crabs from this relatively small area? Blue crabs swim, so the the crab you caught in North Beach today could have been in the hot zone yesterday.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Late Night With IJN Atago posted on time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Meet the New Bosses

Serena McIlwain (L) ,Charlotte Katz (R)

Probably not the same as the old Bosses EPA veteran to lead Maryland's environment department, "Serena McIlwain, formerly a top official at EPA and the Department of Energy, is joining Maryland Gov.-elect Wes Moore's (D) Cabinet."

A former senior EPA official who served at the agency across administrations has been picked to be Maryland's next environment secretary.

On Tuesday, Gov.-elect Wes Moore (D) announced several officials to serve in his Cabinet, including the appointment of Serena McIlwain to head the state's Department of the Environment.

In a statement, Moore said, "We continue to build a cabinet that reflects the state we are humbled to serve.

"These leaders bring with them great knowledge and deep expertise," Moore added. "This is going to be Maryland’s decade, and our team will lead with service in their hearts."

McIlwain comes to the job from California, where she had served as undersecretary of the state's environmental agency since 2019. Prior to that, she was with EPA, where she worked in agency headquarters and its San Francisco office.

McIlwain was assistant regional administrator for EPA Region 9 from 2014 to 2017. Then, she was the inaugural director of the agency's Office of Continuous Improvement in Washington, D.C.

"Office of Continuous Improvement"? Shouldn't all offices strive to continuously improve? Sounds like a make-work job to me.

Chesapeake Bay Mag, Bay Foundation Exec. Is Next Md. Secretary Of Natural Resources 

On Tuesday, Maryland Governor-elect Wes Moore appointed a new Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources ahead of the new governor’s Wednesday inauguration.

Maryland native Josh Kurtz will lead the department. He has been the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) Maryland Executive Director for the last two years.

Kurtz will take over the role from Sec. Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, who was appointed by outgoing Governor Larry Hogan in 2019.

The Crownsville, Anne Arundel County resident led CBF teams in Annapolis, Upper Marlboro, and Easton, Md., working to improve water quality. He led campaigns to plant more trees, conserve forested land, help farmers make environmental improvements, make cities greener, and ensure the state maintains sustainable fisheries.

Before his work at CBF, Kurtz served as policy and government relations director for The Nature Conservancy in Maryland, leading campaigns to conserve the environment and reduce climate change. He worked in Washington, D.C.’s first stormwater retention credit market, pioneering private finance projects, according to the Moore administration.

I'm afraid that with Wes Moore in office, MDE and DNR real action on the Bay's problems will take backseat to DEI and other woke initiatives, but we shall see, I suppose.

Eastern Shore Salmon Farm Cancelled

Not a farmed salmon

Bay Journal, Salmon farm developer withdraws discharge permit request amid sturgeon concerns

Facing growing public pushback, a Norwegian company hoping to build a large indoor salmon farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has — at least for now — dropped its bid for a permit to discharge wastewater into the only waterway in the state where endangered Atlantic sturgeon are known to spawn.

AquaCon Maryland LLC notified the Maryland Department of the Environment on Oct. 14 that it was withdrawing its application to discharge up to 2.3 million gallons a day of treated “purge” water into Marshyhope Creek, a tributary of the Nanticoke River.

The company said in a press release that the public comments on the application “drew attention to Atlantic sturgeons’ use of Marshyhope Creek, which warrants further consideration and evaluation.”

Not an Atlantic Sturgeon

 

Ryan Showalter, the company’s Easton-based lawyer, said in an email that AquaCon has not given up on developing an 18-acre salmon production facility in Federalsburg. Expecting that MDE would require additional information to address “uncertainties” about the facility’s impacts on the sturgeon, Showalter said, company officials decided to withdraw the application and investigate alternatives to year-round discharge into the Marshyhope.

MDE gave preliminary approval to the company’s permit in June, but since then the project has drawn pushback from scientists, environmentalists and local residents concerned about the plant’s potential impact on the creek and its fish, particularly sturgeon. An August hearing drew more than 100 people, with nearly all who spoke opposing it.

I didn't necessarily oppose the salmon farm, but I did wonder if it made a whole lot of economic sense to have an all indoors salmon farm on Maryland's Eastern Shore. But they could use the jobs. 

Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

Bay Journal, Maryland files suit seeking cleanup of Baltimore’s troubled sewage plants

Just a few days after being accused of lax oversight of polluters, the Maryland Department of the Environment filed suit against the city of Baltimore that alleges numerous and ongoing discharge violations at the state’s two largest wastewater treatment plants.

The lawsuit, filed Jan. 21 in Baltimore Circuit Court, seeks civil penalties and an injunction requiring the city to take “all steps necessary” to come into compliance with its state-issued permits. The Back River and Patapsco River plants together discharge about 250 million gallons of treated sewage daily into the rivers, both tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.

The state’s court filings charge the plants with exceeding discharge limits repeatedly, some as far back as 2017, for nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria and other pollutants. They also accuse the city of failing to report sampling results, failing to provide adequate operating staff and failing to run the plants efficiently or conduct needed maintenance.
. . .
State action comes after water quality monitoring last spring by Blue Water Baltimore found elevated bacteria levels and floating fats, oil and grease near the outfall for the Patapsco wastewater treatment plant. The watchdog group reported its findings to MDE, which through a series of inspections from May through December observed extensive violations of both plants’ discharge permits as well as serious maintenance and staffing problems at both facilities.

The problems came to light on Aug. 30 when Blue Water released MDE inspection reports for both plants along with an MDE letter to the city demanding immediate corrective action.

The apparent delay in state action has raised questions about the adequacy of MDE’s regulatory oversight. On Jan. 18, three days before the lawsuit was filed, MDE Secretary Ben Grumbles was grilled by state senators over this and other compliance and enforcement issues that have arisen in the past year. At the hearing, Grumbles acknowledged “recent missteps” and vowed to increase both the number of inspectors and inspections overseeing poultry farms and public drinking water systems.

It's hard to imagine that the state didn't really know what was going on long before long before Blue Water complained. It's their job.  

MDE Lets PG County of the Hook in Stormwater Pollution

MDE, Dept. of the Environment announces stormwater enforcement settlement with Prince George’s County

BALTIMORE (June 1, 2021) – The Maryland Department of the Environment announced an agreement with Prince George’s County to resolve violations of the county’s municipal stormwater permit.

The agreement, outlined in a consent decree filed in Prince George’s County Circuit Court, imposes a $475,000 penalty for the failure to complete all of the stormwater runoff reduction work required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit issued by MDE to the county in 2014. The penalty can be satisfied through the construction of one or more MDE-approved supplemental environmental projects by December 31, 2024.

The consent decree also requires timely completion of stormwater work still remaining under the 2014 MS4 permit. The settlement calls for additional penalties for failure to meet progress milestones.

“This enforcement action reflects the state’s priority on preventing stormwater pollution and growing green infrastructure for clean water and climate resilience throughout the Chesapeake Bay,” said Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. “We appreciate Prince George’s County for stepping up to improve environmental performance under its permit and agreeing to an enforcement decree, including penalties, schedules, and supplemental environmental projects.”

Under the MS4 permit, Prince George’s County was required to implement stormwater treatment practices on 20% of its untreated impervious surface area – totaling 6,105 acres – by the end of the five-year permit term. MDE’s approved restoration total for the county is 2,387 acres, resulting in a deficit of 3,718 impervious acres that have not been restored as required, the consent decree states.

So they've been in violation for at least 5 years? How much are typical fines under NPDES? From EPA, 2012 NPDES General Permit for Stormwater Discharges

The CWA provides that any person who knowingly violates permit conditions implementing Sections 301, 302, 306, 307, 308, 318, or 405 of the Act is subject to a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $50,000 per day of violation, or by imprisonment for not more than 3 years, or both.

Five years at a minimum of $5,000 per day? That's a lot of money, far more than $450,000 (I could do the math, but why bother?). 

Eastern Shore Prepares to Advance into the 20th Century

EPA Bay Projects pet journolists at the Bay Journal: Natural gas pipeline was a long shot in Eastern Shore county — until state help arrived and they're not very happy about it.

With only a handful of large employers and Maryland’s highest poverty rate, Somerset County has come up empty for years in its efforts to attract a natural gas pipeline, which county officials view as the key to unlocking its economic potential.

Now, though, a pipeline is just a few regulatory steps away from construction in the county. What changed? Not the private sector. The county’s economic activity is as sluggish as ever. What’s new is a lucrative public lifeline — a 20-year contract to supply natural gas-fired energy to two huge state-owned enterprises: a historically Black university and a state prison.

The state’s financial interests in the Del-Mar Energy Pathway pipeline top the list of questions being raised by environmental groups about the Eastern Shore project.

“I don’t think driving down the utility bills at a state penitentiary is a compelling enough benefit to put my family at risk or to put at risk the waters that my grandfather tonged oysters in,” Robin Cockey, an attorney and former Salisbury city councilman, said at a recent hearing on the pipeline.

The project also has drawn scrutiny for potential environmental damage to wetlands and streams during construction, the possibility of the pipeline leaking and its reliance on gas obtained from controversial hydraulic fracturing.

The project aims to bury a 10-inch pipe from near downtown Salisbury in Wicomico County southward to the community of Eden just beyond the Somerset boundary; the second phase will continue south with an 8-inch pipe past Princess Anne, where it will serve the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and onward to the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover. Most of the work will take place in the existing right-of-way along Route 13 and a rail line — which, the project’s advocates say, should reduce harm to the environment.

“I’d love to be able to see a future where we have energy that is produced that doesn’t harm or kill people,” said Josh Hastings, a Wicomico County Council member. “I do not want a future with more chemical inundation on our society.”

The nearly 19-mile conduit will be the first natural gas link in Somerset County, one of only three Maryland counties that lack access to the fuel source. Smaller branches will eventually carry gas to hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and businesses along the route, including in the county seat of Princess Anne.

“We need this for economic growth. It’s just hard to compete with counities that have natural gas, because they can offer their companies a much cheaper product to run their business,” said Randy Laird, a representative on the Board of County Commissioners.

 

Beach Report 8/24/20

85 F with 83% relative humidity, not a lot of breeze equals pretty warm. Occasional clouds gave us a little shade once a while

 Georgia and Skye, with her find of the day, a nice White Shark tooth. Not the biggest, but a great specimen, complete and fresh.

My best, a small shark vertebra. I have submitted the contest to the experts on Facebook to see who wins the day

 The Sea Nettles are just awful this year. Some places you can barely walk, a jellyfish makes a banana peel seem like adhesive. Other places, like this, they wash around in the shallows in droves.

 Coming back to the harbor.

 Some one in waders? Well that's one way not to get stung.

Turns out it's the woman from MDE who comes to sample the bay at different beaches for bacteria. That's a sample bottle in her hand. So far we haven't had any notices posted that we exceeded the magic number.

An Osprey circling.

Earth Shattering News - Air Near Chicken Coops Dusty and Stinks

Air monitoring finds ammonia, particulates higher near poultry farms, but far below limits

An air quality monitoring project looking at the impact of poultry operations on surrounding residential areas has released its first data about the lower Eastern Shore.
The data indicates that airborne substances of concern are higher near high concentrations of poultry farms, but the measures are far below recommended limits.

The project is a joint effort by the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. — an industry advocacy group — and the Maryland Department of the Environment, which is in charge of collecting and publishing all data. The project also has monetary support from the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

The network of ambient air monitoring stations is the first project to compare ambient ammonia levels on the Eastern Shore to those in the city of Baltimore, according to DPI. The project's aim is to collect data on residential air quality in the vicinity of poultry operations.

"The launch of this data-gathering effort reflects the chicken community’s firm commitment to transparency and to being a good neighbor,” said Holly Porter, executive director of DPI, in a statement. “We share with all Marylanders an interest in better understanding how farms, suburbs and denser cities can coexist on the Eastern Shore, and this ambient air monitoring network furthers that understanding."

No doubt disappointing people who want to further regulate the chicken farming on the Eastern Shore.

MDE Announces Maryland "Climate Goals"

Maryland Department of the Environment releases draft plan to achieve climate goals

The Maryland Department of the Environment announced on Tuesday the release of a comprehensive, economy-wide plan to dramatically reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

MDE says the new draft plan will set Maryland on an ambitious path and “serve as a model for how the nation can respond to climate change while also supporting economic growth.”

The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act – Reauthorization, signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan, expanded on the original law to require that the state achieve at least a 40 percent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by 2030. This requirement is substantially greater than the United States’ commitment to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent by 2025 under the Paris Agreement.

“Maryland has invested the time and done the hard work needed to propose this aggressive, achievable, science-based climate action plan,” said Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. “The Hogan administration is committed to confronting the climate crisis through bold, collaborative, innovative, and bipartisan action.”

The draft plan incorporates a comprehensive set of more than 100 measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including investments in energy efficiency and clean and renewable energy solutions, widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and improved management of farms and forests. It also supports new industries and technologies by encouraging investment in the energy and transportation sectors.

Maryland Department of the Environment estimates as much as $11.54 billion in increased economic output in the state by 2030, and the creation of more than 11,000 jobs as a result of these proposals.

The Maryland Department of the Environment is required by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act – Reauthorization to develop a statewide greenhouse gas reduction plan. The department developed the draft plan in coordination with other state agencies and stakeholders, including the bipartisan Maryland Commission on Climate Change. The law also requires the department to solicit public comment on the draft plan from interested stakeholders and the public before adopting a final plan.

Key elements of the draft plan include:

• Governor Hogan’s proposed Clean and Renewable Energy Standard (CARES) and its requirement for 100 percent clean electricity by 2040—one of the most ambitious goals in the nation
• An increased emphasis on clean transportation through the Maryland Clean Cars program, expanded investment in public transit, upgrades of half of the state’s transit buses to clean power, and, potentially, the regional Transportation and Climate Initiative’s “carbon cap-and-invest” program
• Continued participation and leadership in the geographically expanding Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
• Programs to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), greenhouse gases that are significantly more potent than carbon dioxide, and to better identify and reduce methane leaks in the energy sector
• Enhanced healthy soil initiatives, through which farmers can make significant contributions to climate change goals by sequestering carbon
• Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through investments under the EmPOWER Maryland program, along with the implementation of Governor Hogan’s executive order directing state buildings to reduce energy use by an additional 10 percent

The draft plan will achieve a 44 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, surpassing the 40 percent reduction goal required by state law. In addition to reducing emissions that contribute to climate change, the draft plan aims to also promote better air quality by reducing emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution. It will also improve water quality through reductions in nitrogen pollution to the state’s waterways, including the Chesapeake Bay.

To say I'm skeptical of the value and  ability of the state to achieve these goals is an understatement. But if they really thought they would achieve "$11.54 billion in increased economic output in the state by 2030, and the creation of more than 11,000 jobs as a result of these proposals", you would not need climate change to justify them.

How Does the Rain Affect the Oysters?

They're already wet, but it certainly makes life a little safer for a few of them: Southern Maryland waterway reclassified for shellfish harvesting

The Maryland Department of the Environment has reclassified a portion of the Wicomico River in Charles and St. Mary’s counties for shellfish harvesting. About 2,470 acres of the river have been reclassified from approved to “restricted,” meaning the area is closed to shellfish harvesting.

The change – which is effective today, Monday, November 5 – is due to recent evaluations showing unacceptable bacteria levels in portions of the waterway. The Department of the Environment conducts regular surveys to identify potential pollution sources near shellfish harvesting waters, but the cause of an increase in bacteria levels is not always known and no specific cause has been identified for the increased levels in these areas.

Shellfish are filter feeders with the ability to filter water and get food from microscopic organisms in the water. If the waters have elevated bacteria levels, the risk is greater that pathogens may be present, and this filtering process can then concentrate any disease-causing organisms. Oysters and clams are often eaten raw or partially cooked and must come from waters that are within acceptable bacteria levels.

Actually, the tests are for coliform bacteria, which suggest fecal contamination, which is often increased after a major rain or runoff event. The Bay, and even clean seawater in general, are loaded with bacteria of many types, including some potentially nasty ones, but runoff from sewage and septic systems and pet waste certainly raises the chances for catching something.

The Department of the Environment monitors bacteriological water quality and conducts pollution source surveys to determine which areas are safe for the harvesting of shellfish. The department is required to close areas that do not meet the strict water quality standards for shellfish harvesting waters and it has a longstanding policy to reopen areas to shellfish harvesting when water quality improves.

These actions are necessary to protect public health by preventing harvest from the areas affected and ensure Maryland remains in compliance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program.

Information on shellfish harvesting areas is available on the department’s website. These designations apply only to the harvesting of molluscan shellfish (oysters and clams); they do not apply to fishing, crabbing or swimming. Consumption advisories for recreationally caught fish and crabs can also be found on the department’s website.

This was before the rains we had over last night and today, so the chances of this clearing up soon seems small.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Since its completion in 1928, Conowingo Dam has been intercepting sediments and other pollutants which would otherwise have washed into Chesapeake Bay. In recent years, the pool behind it has become nearly full of sediment, and in periods of high flow it is no long able to retain the pollutants, thus, bring the situation back to what it was before the dam was built. Now, the company that bought this energy asset is on the edge of being assessed a huge fine: Maryland orders Exelon to shoulder Conowingo pollution reductions:

After years of study and haggling over how to deal with the impact of Conowingo Dam on the Chesapeake Bay, the Hogan administration has ordered the hydropower facility’s operator to reduce nutrient pollution passing through the dam on its way down the Susquehanna River — or pay up to $172 million a year for someone else to do it.

Maryland has ordered Exelon to offset impacts of nutrient and sediment pollution, water releases on lower Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay.

The Maryland Department of the Environment announced Friday that it had issued a condition-laden water quality certification needed by the utility before it could receive a new federal license to continue operating the hydroelectric dam. The 59-page document directs the facility’s owner, Exelon Corp., take a series of steps to help spawning fish over the 94-foot high dam, to produce a more natural river flow and to improve fish habitat and water quality.

I have no problem with that. There is a real problem with anadromous fish not being able to get past Conowingo in sufficient numbers.

MDE directed Exelon, which is seeking a new 50-year license for Conowingo, to make annual reductions of 6 million pounds of nitrogen and 260,000 pounds of phosphorus in the lower Susquehanna below the dam. Those are the amount of nutrient reductions studies have indicated are needed to offset the impact of the dam on Upper Bay water quality. If the company does not make those reductions itself, then the MDE directed it to pay “in-lieu fees” if nothing else is done to reduce the nutrient flows.

“From the beginning of our administration, we have sounded the warning on the problems caused by the Conowingo Dam,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement. He said the conditions in the state’s certification provide “a strong framework for working with the upstream states and private partners such as Exelon to take real actions to address the sediment and nutrient pollution problems caused by the dam so we can preserve the Bay for future generations.”

The state’s action drew praise from environmental groups. Alison Prost, acting vice president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, thanked Hogan and MDE for wanting to hold Exelon accountable, saying that “the very presence of this dam alters the form and timing of river water and pollution reaching the Chesapeake Bay.”

Exelon spokeswoman Deena O’Brien said the company was reviewing the state’s conditions, while reiterating its longstanding position that the dam itself is not adding nutrient pollution to the river or the Bay.

Exelon had previously agreed to a number of the conditions laid out by the MDE, including an ambitious plan to increase the numbers of American shad, river herring and eels getting upriver past Conowingo and three other dams. But talks between the company and Maryland apparently broke down over additional conditions the MDE wanted to impose regarding water quality.

“We were very far apart,” Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles said, both about what Exelon would have to do about the nutrients and sediment flowing past the dam and about the way in which the hydro facility’s operation alters the natural flow of the river.

If there were any justice, the farmers of Pennsylvania and New York, as well as the various municipalities in the Susquehanna drainage, whose eroding farms and polluted storm water flows actually sent the sediment and other pollutants down the river would be paying these fees instead of the company whose asset was actually responsible for sequestering these pollutants, would pay the fees.

If there were any justice.

Maryland Moves to Clean Baltimore Harbor Scrapyard

Baltimore scrapyard fined $50K for releasing oil, toxic metals into Patapsco River

Maryland environmental regulators have fined a South Baltimore scrapyard $50,000 for allowing toxic metals and oil to wash into the Patapsco River.

The agreement comes nearly two years after officials first found that the company was violating its permits.

As part of a settlement with the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Baltimore Scrap Corp. also agreed to spend at least $750,000 on systems to filter stormwater runoff that washes over its property and into the harbor near Fort McHenry.

It's good to see that the bulk of the money is being spent to remediate the site, rather than to feed our bloated state government.

Baltimore Harbor/Patapsco River is one of three areas of Chesapeake Bay designed a region of special concern for toxic substances, both metals and organics. The other two are the Elizabeth River in the Norfolk, Virginia area, and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. Baltimore has a metals problem in part because of a historic releases from long established metal refining and processing industry.

Maryland Prepare for Pollution Trading

MDE, MDA join forces to establish nutrient trading - Environmentalists not thrilled.

Maryland is moving ahead with plans to launch a nutrient trading program that it hopes will set the standard for a market-based and cost-effective way to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

The state’s Environment and Agriculture departments are working together to establish a system for buying and selling nutrient pollution credits. Likely buyers include cities trying to meet state requirements that they reduce stormwater pollution running off streets and parking lots. The likely sellers would be farms willing to go beyond what’s legally required to curb runoff from their fields, feedlots and pastures.

MDE Secretary Ben Grumbles has repeatedly extolled trading’s virtues at several public forums over the last six months, including a University of Maryland agriculture law conference and a symposium at Chesapeake College on the Eastern Shore.

Grumbles announced a 32-member advisory committee that would meet monthly to give state officials feedback on how to proceed with trading. The department also introduced a bill in the General Assembly — at the request of Gov. Larry Hogan — that would let the state tap its Bay Restoration Fund to buy nutrient credits. That fund, which was created to upgrade sewage treatment plants, is financed by so-called “flush fees” paid by all utility customers and septic systems owners.

Pollution credit trading is a preferred tactic for pollution control by conservatives, because it allows the market to decide where to most efficiently control pollution, by having those with big pockets, but serious pollution issues to buy credits off polluters with smaller pockets and more cheaper means to control the pollution. Liberals generally disfavor trading because they would rather control pollution by direct mandate, especially to those out of favor with the liberal establishment. Case in point

 Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman said the panel appears to be geared toward making trading happen rather than wrestling with questions of environmental justice and equity about trades. Among the concerns Tutman has discussed over the last five years: Whether certain communities, like Baltimore City and lower-income areas along the Patuxent, will bear the brunt of increased pollution under trading while wealthy communities reap the benefits.

 When I hear or see the term "environmental justice" I check my wallet, to see if it's still there.

“Looks like a setup to me,” Tutman said of the panel. “My assumption is that trading will always be economically more advantageous than upgrading technology or compliance with a permit that has a specific limit attached to it. Literally paying to pollute is an attractive option for them.”

Damn those poor Baltimorons who might prefer to sell pollution tax credits and keep the cash, and the pollution, instead of paying out of pocket for unwanted pollution controls. 

Exelon Yields to MDE Extortion

Nice dam you have there, it would be a shame if we wouldn't let you use it

The Maryland Department of the Environment says Exelon Corp. will pay up to $3.5 million to fund more study of the Conowingo power dam's effects on Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay water quality.

The agency threatened last month to deny a permit renewal because the Chicago-based company hadn't fully supported its assertion that the dam's reduced ability to trap sediment was harming the Chesapeake Bay, about 10 miles downstream.
. . .
The Army Corps of Engineers has concluded that dredging the river to improve the dam's sediment-trapping ability could cost billions and have relatively little effect on the bay.

The old conventional wisdom was models said that the filling of the pool behind Conowingo Dam was the worst possible thing that could happen to the Bay. The new conventional wisdom is models say that it's not so bad, what we really need to do is stop agriculture in the Chesapeake watershed. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in between.

As Dane-geld goes, 3.5 million isn't all that much. I'm sure Exelon can find a contractor who will get to an answer acceptable to the state for that much.