Storms Cause Millions Of Gallons Of Wastewater To Overflow In Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- One of the largest wastewater releases in years sends 12 million gallons of filthy sewage water flowing into the Jones Falls and Baltimore's crown jewel, the Inner Harbor. It's all because of the record rain we saw this week.

Rick Ritter has more on the environmental impact.

At first it was five million but the DPW says they had a miscalculation and now it's 12 million---pollution that will make those who kayak and fish think twice about where they go---and can cause both algae blooms and fish kills.

As if Wednesday's record-setting storms weren't punishing enough, DPW says more than 12 million gallons of wastewater straight from toilets and sinks across Baltimore into the Jones Falls---an environmental nightmare.

"It seems like kind of an unbelievable number," said David Robert.

The intentional releases were in two spots, one along East Preston Street and another along Falls Road, ultimately ending up in the Inner Harbor.

"I can't imagine what the impact environmentally would be but it just sounds awful," he said.

But David Flores can. The Baltimore harbor water keeper says the impact is evident.

"The aftermath of millions of gallons entering our waterways are obviously polluted waterways," Flores said.

And in case people forgot, sewage is a hazardous material.

"When it enters into our waterways, we need to make informed decisions about how we interact with them. Do we go kayaking? Do we go fishing on the Jones Falls? Having information is really critical," Flores said.

Experts say while the numbers are staggering, the actual amount of sewer-contaminated water was likely even higher. The discharges came from two old outflows, designed years ago to prevent sewage from backing up to homes.

"These are structured overflows that in the long term will be closed," said Jeff Raymond, DPW.

DPW is still working to revamp the entire system and make sure overflows like this become a rarity.

"Millions of gallons of sewage is not good for neighborhood streams, not good for our rivers, not good for the harbor and not good for the livability of Baltimore," Flores said.

Flores added people who spend a lot of time on local waterways need to reach out to public agencies and the state and ask to be provided with water quality advisories after an incident like this.

DPW says at this time, over $100 million in sewer rehabilitation projects are occurring throughout the city.