2020 was a year like no other for water quality monitoring and advocacy in Baltimore, and we are proud of our accomplishments and flexibility during such a tumultuous time. We continued our water quality monitoring program despite the many challenges of COVID, utilizing our in-house rapid bacteria setup to continue processing bacteria samples. We hosted…
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd, Blue Water Baltimore held our second annual Afternoon With Your Waterkeeper event to release our 2019 water quality data. In response to current global events, we took the event online and held our very first large-scale webinar! Our water quality monitoring program hit…
When people think about things that pollute Baltimore’s streams and rivers, chances are they think about sewage, trash, and legacy toxins. Drinking water? Not so much. It’s hard to think of drinking water as a pollutant. After all, it is clean water, right? It doesn’t have the pungent smell that sewage does. It’s not unsightly…
Blue Water Baltimore is pleased to announce that our lead water quality scientist Alice Volpitta has been appointed as our new Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper! A Maryland native and resident of Baltimore City, Volpitta has served as Blue Water Baltimore’s lead water quality scientist for nearly six years. Her areas of expertise include water quality monitoring,…
Sewage doesn’t belong in our streets – or our homes. When it rains in Baltimore, millions of gallons of sewage flow into our streams, rivers, Inner Harbor, and even our homes. Sewage backups in homes and buildings are a big problem in Baltimore. Heavy rainfall coupled with the city’s crumbling infrastructure causes toxic sewage to back…
Blue Water Baltimore plays a critical role in identifying pollution in our waterways and taking action to stop it. Thanks to key provisions in the Clean Water Act that give the public the right to directly enforce against polluters, we can hold them accountable and stop pollution at its source. There is no shortage of water pollution…
How’s the Water, Hon? Blue Water Baltimore is thrilled to announce the launch of our new water quality mapping platform: www.baltimorewaterwatch.org! We worked with the experts at Chesapeake Commons for our new innovative approach to data visualization. For the first time ever, we are able share in-depth information about the specific measurements of water health…
A federal district court in Maryland ruled last week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wrongfully denied our petition to regulate stormwater runoff from commercial, industrial, and institutional sites in the Back River watershed. Blue Water Baltimore and its allies took this fight against dangerous stormwater discharges to court so that polluters who contribute…
Last year, hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage flowed directly into Baltimore’s streams and harbor from leaking and overwhelmed pipes below our city’s streets. Just last week, a mass of oil, grease, and “flushable” wipes dubbed a “fatberg” caused a 1.2 million gallon backup into the Jones Falls. Heavy rains often bring on…
Blue Water Baltimore and its allies are taking the fight against dangerous stormwater discharges to court so that polluters who contribute to the runoff of hazardous contaminants into our waterways are made to clean up their own mess. Along with co-plaintiffs Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and American Rivers, Blue Water Baltimore is suing the…
