It smells: Baltimore County delegate demands action on Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant

From WBAL-TV, Baltimore, MD, USA

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works is working on a comprehensive odor control plan to address complaints about the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, with results from a third-party engineer's analysis expected by the end of the year or early January.

DPW officials are also addressing issues identified during the Maryland Department of the Environment's last inspection, which may be contributing to the odor. 

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Pollution from development still flowing into Gunpowder River - Maryland

Full story from Bay Journal: 

 Following $4 million settlement in May, violations at Maryland site continue into August

 The plume of muddy water in the Gunpowder River, once so vast it could be seen from space, has receded somewhat. But Foster Branch, the creek that flows into that Chesapeake Bay tributary, still looks like it’s brimming with creamed coffee.

Muddy runoff from Ridgely’s Reserve, a large housing development in Joppa, continues to foul Foster Branch and the Gunpowder River months after the developers agreed to pay a record $4.1 million in penalties and compensation to settle a four-year run of alleged pollution violations.

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the nonprofit Gunpowder Riverkeeper had sued the developers — national homebuilder DR Horton, its subsidiary Forestar Real Estate Group and a Pennsylvania building contractor — accusing them of repeatedly failing to keep mud from washing off the 121-acre construction site.

Since the settlement was announced May 19, MDE inspectors have found sediment and erosion control violations on four separate occasions, most recently Aug. 12. On that visit, inspectors reported seeing eroding soil, exposed soil vulnerable to washing off in a rainstorm and improperly installed “silt fences’’ meant to keep mud from running off the site. Worst of all, they saw sediment in the stream bed downhill from the development.

Harford County inspectors, meanwhile, have issued a series of stop-work orders and “correction notices” for multiple infractions, including more of the same ones cited by MDE.

What comes next after a 4.25 million gallon sewage spill. Colorado, USA

From The Colorado Sun:

A massive spill of raw sewage and untreated wastewater into the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado continues to wreak havoc on the region.

Water in the river downstream of the spill, east of Pueblo, is still testing high for dangerous nasties like the bacteria E. coli. Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday issued advisories for people to stay away from the water in 10 state wildlife areas along the river, as well as the Las Animas State Fish Hatchery.

And all of this is happening during one of the most agriculturally important times for the Lower Arkansas Valley, as watermelon, cantaloupe, chile peppers and other crops are harvested.