BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Residents near Baltimore’s Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant are calling for the city to address bad smells in the area that they believe stem from plant mismanagement.
“Some days I wake up and I come out here and I'm like, ‘I can’t stand this,’” said Essex resident David Tooma, whose house is located across the river from the plant. “It's impacting the value of my property. If I go to sell this property and somebody smells that stench it's going to hinder the sale of my house.”
A recent state inspection of the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant found broken equipment and several causes of bad smells in the area. The inspection found large amounts of sewage sludge cannot be properly processed and dried, so the material is sitting in sludge storage lagoons. The report, dated June 18, notes “[p]ungent and highly earthy odors were observed” in that area of the plant.
“I did read the report, and I'm concerned about follow-up,” Tooma said. “Who’s being held accountable for that?”
The Maryland Department of Environment directed the sludge to start being removed by July 1 and fully removed by Sept. 1. But the plant couldn’t secure a contractor for the job and just started removing the sludge at the end of July, the city’s Department of Public Works told Spotlight on Maryland in an email.
Combs also said one of the plants dryer trains began operating on July 29, and a second one is being tested “for a potential restart.”
Spotlight initially scheduled a tour of the plant to discuss PFAS chemicals. But after Spotlight brought up the recent state inspection, Combs said the tour was canceled due to a scheduling conflict.
‘Very strong odors’
In addition to lagoon sludge build-up, MDE noted “[v]ery strong odors” within one building where there appeared to be “failures in the equipment or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) sensors within the headworks odor scrubbers.”
The state also identified “[s]trong sewage and earthy odors” near sludge thickener and holding tanks, exacerbated by the fact that the equipment is “currently uncovered and open to the atmosphere.”
“Plant staff have reported that covers and odor control systems previously used for these tanks fell into disrepair and were removed after accumulating H2S gas caused severe corrosion,” the report said.
MDE directed the plant to develop a comprehensive odor-control plan, which Combs says is currently in development.
“The plan will include a detailed assessment of potential on-site and off-site odor sources, conducted in coordination with Baltimore City and Baltimore County teams,” she said.
Some nearby residents use an app called “Smell MyCity” to track foul smells in the area. Tooma said he’s been concerned about smells at his Essex home since the 1970s and wants to see the problem fixed.
“I'm paying a lot of money to live here, tax-wise, and can't fish, can't swim here, and have to smell that odor periodically,” Tooma said. “It's just – it's unacceptable.”
‘Faulty operations’
The report also noted excessive levels of residual chlorine and phosphorous in February that were caused by “faulty operations” at the facility. Exceedances above permitted levels can cause algae blooms and harm aquatic wildlife.
However, Combs said the plant “has maintained compliance with its monthly permitted limits in 2025 and 2026” and that the plant “conducts daily sampling for most regulated constituents and reports exceedances, including minor, isolated results, to MDE as required.”
“When individual results have raised concerns, plant staff have taken appropriate operational actions to address them and maintain compliance with the monthly limits,” she said.
She added that “Back River has had and continues to have an exceptional compliance record over the past four years, earning millions of dollars in grants from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for its nutrient removal capabilities.”
