Gunpowder River Sewage Spill Causes Safety, Communication Concerns

Directly adjacent to the Big Falls Inn in White Marsh is the sewage pump station. An area on the other side of the station, an entrance into the , also belongs to the Philadelphia Road tavern.

Despite their close proximity, workers and patrons said they were not directly informed of a that occurred between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, during the height of 's strong winds and heavy rain.

"It's just not safe," said Merry Foit, a bartender. "People sometimes park here to go swimming."

Raw sewage is fed into Forge Acres from underground pipelines. As sewage rises, pumps lift and store the sewage until it can be processed in a nearby treatment plant. This process, however, was disrupted when the station lost electrical power. An unknown amount of sewage then spilled into the , flowing east and potentially contaminating an unknown amount of water, said David Fidler, a public works spokesman.

Power was restored to the Forge Acres station by Sunday night, Fidler said, and late Monday evening, a press release to the public for the first time.

Outages caused overflows at 11 additional stations throughout the county, into waterways, Fidler said.

The county Department of Health's website included the east of Philadelphia Road on a list of potentially hazardous waterways that "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. If contact is unavoidable, wash exposed skin areas thoroughly," according to the website.

While the Big Gunpowder Falls remained listed on the health department website into Thursday morning, no warning signs had been posted and access had not been restricted to the river entrance closest to the pump station.

Two kayakers were seen using the waterway directly across from the station late Wednesday afternoon.

Fidler said public works, in a cooperative effort with the health department, makes an effort to inform the public about potentially hazardous water, and when necessary, sends notices directly to impacted community members. 

He added that any waste water has likely already flowed away from the area surrounding the Forge Acres pump station in the days following Hurricane Irene.

Foit said she hadn't noticed any unusual smell or debris near the river bank since , but news of the spill still worried her.

"This is the first I'm hearing about this," she said.

Get instant Perry Hall news updates.  Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.