16.5 Million Gallons of Sewage Overflow Into Baltimore County Waterways

Nearly 17 million gallons of sewage overflowed Sunday into 10 different rivers and streams throughout Baltimore County as a result of at a dozen pumping stations, county officials reported Monday.

Five stations in the county’s southeast overflowed—Delmar, Masseth Avenue, Chesapeake Terrace, Hyde Park and Fort Howard, according to the Baltimore County Department of Public Works press release. In the north, the , Buchanan Road and Texas pump stations overflowed. And on the west side, the Frederick Road, Valley Village and Carroll Avenue stations spilled over.

The 8:26 p.m. press release on Monday stated that the sewage overflows occurred on Sunday.

County officials also reported Monday night that they had discovered a “rupture in a 54-inch diameter pressure line” from the Patapsco Sewage Pump Station located east of Old Annapolis Road shortly before midnight on Sunday, according to a press release from the public works department.

“The pipe transports about 17 million gallons of sewage daily from the western half of the County to the Patapsco Treatment Plant in Baltimore City. The overflow is on-going,” the county reported Monday night.

Spiniello Companies, Inc. was hired to replace the line with assistance from Baltimore City and the Washington Sanitary Sewer Commission, the agency reported.

“Engineers expect that the repair can be completed in four days,” the press release stated.

The county Department of Health's website stated that "the general water quality may be degraded by surface run-off and potential sewage overflows resulting from power outages and heavy rains associated with Hurricane Irene.” 

“Persons who have open cuts or wounds or who are health compromised should avoid contact with cloudy or debris strewn waters," the website stated Monday night.

According to the website, these bodies of water are “known to have been directly affected by sewage overflows”:

• The south of Ilchester Road, continuing to the river mouth.
• Jones Falls, east of Greenspring Valley Road.
• Beaver Dam Run, east of Recycle Way.
• Brice Run, south of Liberty Road.
• Lake Roland, south of Bellona Avenue.
• , east of Philadelphia Road.
• , southwest of Maryland Route 702.
• Chink Creek, south of Wise Avenue.
• , south of Sparrows Point Road
• south of Bay Front Road.

Similar overflows have been reported across the state. The Washington Post reported Monday that "the Maryland Department of the Environment reported that the storm caused the release of millions of gallons of waste into streams and rivers that flow into the Chesapeake Bay."