Photograph 1 shows the sewage pond and, at the right, the beginning of the trench.		Photograph 2 shows more of the trench		Photograph 3 shows the location after repair (the manhole cover is visible at the far right)

From: Guy Hollyday

Re: Misreporting of sewage overflow in Baltimore City

On Thursday, January 9, 2003, a water quality monitor discovered a Department of Public Works jet truck beside a stream at Kelly Avenue and Cross Country Boulevard in Mt. Washington in Baltimore City. When I learned of the fact a few days later, I went to the site and, to my astonishment, found sewage gushing from where the work had been done.

Wednesday, January 22, 2003, almost two weeks after the work crew dug a trench to the nearby stream and left sewage flowing, I inspected the site once more. What I found is recorded in photographs 1 and 2 above (click to expand). The flow filled my one-gallon pail in three to four seconds, so the flow was at least fifteen gallons per minute. That's 21,600 gallons of sewage per day. The sewage flowed for at least thirteen days. That's 280,500 gallons of sewage for western Run, the Jones Falls, the Baltimore Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay.

The only report given to the Maryland Department of the Environment claims that on January 9, 2003, there was a seven-hour overflow amounting to 4,200 gallons, and that on January 23, 2003, there was an overflow of 2.5 hours amounting to 715 gallons. Those are the amounts on which the fine will be assessed as required by the Consent Decree.

In summary:
The sewage flowed for more than thirteen days.
The DPW Maintenance crew reported nine and a half hours.
The total amount of sewage flow was about 280,500 gallons.
The DPW reported 4,915 gallons.
The city should pay a fine of $10,000 for this overflow, according to the Consent Decree
The city's reporting will incur a Consent Decree fine of only $1000

Respectfully,
Guy Hollyday, chairman
Baltimore Sanitary Sewer Oversight Coalition