Last weekend, a memorial service was held by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for Ridgway “Ridge” Hall, who was a true friend not only to the Bay, but to Blue Water Baltimore over the years. You can learn more about Ridge’s incredible life and impact in a recent interview with the Choose Clean Water Coalition. Back…
An intern’s view of BWB!
After a whirlwind 90 days, Maryland’s 2023 Legislative Session ended on April 10th. Legislators considered over 2,000 bills this session and passed several priorities from the environmental community. Blue Water Baltimore weighed in on over 30 bills that impact environmental and community health in the watersheds where we work. Read on to learn more about…
2021 marked our ninth season of data collection and analysis in the waterways flowing into the Patapsco River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. A snapshot of overall ecological health is shown for each of our 49 monitoring stations here, and a full breakdown of the data is available at BaltimoreWaterWatch.org. The overall ecological health in…
Blue Water Baltimore has completed our first Community Science pilot program with residents of the area around Back River. The Back River Restoration Committee reached out to us last year about ways residents could get involved in the ongoing water quality issues in the river, and last month Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper Alice Volpitta and water…
Help Blue Water Baltimore advocate for clean water and healthy neighborhoods by joining the Baltimore Department of Public Works’ new Resident Advisory Council (RAC). The council will be composed of 14 city residents and six DPW representatives, and it’s a great way to get involved! From the city’s press release: The deadline to apply to…
Baltimore, MD – Blue Water Baltimore (BWB), home of the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, is proceeding in its federal case against Baltimore City originally filed in December 2021 for excessive pollution and ongoing violations of the federal Clean Water Act at the Patapsco and Back River Wastewater Treatment Plants. The parties previously agreed to temporarily pause…
What’s happened recently: Last week, with the help of residents and our scientists, MDE confirmed that conditions at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant had gone from bad to worse. In his order to Baltimore City, which operates the plant, MDE Secretary Grumbles cited the risk of “catastrophic failure” and ordered a return to compliance within 48 hours. After the subsequent…
We’ve been busy tracking local and state legislation since our last Advocacy Update! On March 16th, Baltimore’s City Council held a hearing on a bill to require City government operations become net zero. This was the final hearing on Councilman Mark Conway’s climate package. Now we need to tell the City Council to pass the…