Advocates and Communities Demand Sewer Backup Assistance Program Expansion January 18, 2024 Contact: Well over $1 Billion of taxpayer money has been invested in underground pipe projects and improvements at the Back River and Patapsco wastewater treatment plants. Significant progress has been made. Yet rainfall and other conditions continue to overwhelm Baltimore’s sewer system and cause…
Environmental Regulators Order Baltimore City to Expand Sewage Assistance Program – Rain or Shine July 13, 2023 The Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment have ordered Baltimore City to expand a program that helps homeowners who have suffered a sewage backup due to problems in the city’s aging sewer pipes, fulfilling…
Miles of pipes snake below our feet, teeming with activity and unwitnessed by many. While most people turn a blind eye to sewer systems, Jessica Leigh Hester traverses this concrete jungle with unwavering curiosity. The Sewer author sat down with us ahead of World Water Day to shed light on the fragility, beauty, and vitality…
By Matthew Price As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. and the progress toward racial justice in the U.S., we must honor King’s legacy by acknowledging the long road left ahead and recommit to fighting for racial justice everyday. In Baltimore, racial inequity continues to affect everything from life expectancy rates to commute times. And…
Sewage backups into peoples’ homes are a big problem in Baltimore City. When raw sewage spurts out from a basement-level toilet, bubbles up from a floor drain, or floods a washing machine, it presents a danger to residents’ health, causes damage to homes, and requires immediate attention and resources to fix. Backups can be caused…
As we celebrate Black History & Black Futures Month this February, the connections between environmental justice and racial justice are clearer than ever. As a majority white organization working in a majority Black city, we at Blue Water Baltimore strive to uphold a commitment to equity and also recognize that we have a lot more…
Oh Boy, What A Year! As the second year of the pandemic draws to a close, Blue Water Baltimore celebrates the ways in which our community can still come together to achieve our mission of Clean water, Strong communities. We planted over 1,000 trees, removed 11,000 sq feet of impervious surface and gave away over…
Take Action! Fight Climate Change From raw sewage backing up into peoples’ basements to the urban heat island effect exacerbating hot temperatures, climate change poses significant risks to Baltimore’s communities, waterways, and environment. And the effects of climate change are not felt equally. As a result of systemic disinvestment, Black and brown communities are more…
It’s been a whirlwind of a year on all fronts, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve navigated through many challenges, welcomed new staff members to our BWB family, and we’re working every day to hold polluters accountable. So, what has your Baltimore Waterkeeper team been up to? Growing our Team of Water Protectors Our…
Baltimore, MD – Blue Water Baltimore (BWB), partnering with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), today filed a petition for judicial review of the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permits recently issued for Baltimore City and County. These permits, reviewed and re-issued every five years by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), provide requirements for municipalities to address pollution and flooding caused by…