Back River

Earlier this month, Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Mayor Kurt Schmoke announced a $40-million federal anti-pollution grant tohelp finance the on-going work at the Back River sewage plant. The state's largest wastewater-treatment plant, Back River strains up to 180 million gallons a day. Its discharge into the Chesapeake estuarine system has a major impact on the environment that nurtures oysters, clams, crabs and bay fish. Thus, a particular emphasis in Maryland's commitment to the Chesapeake Bay Compact focuses on upgrading the Back River plant.

Baltimore County police released images Monday of a forensic artist's reconstruction of a skull belonging to a man found in the Back River over a year ago. Police released the images to help identify the man but said the facial features might vary. The victim is a white male and 40 to 60 years old. The victim had no upper teeth and may have worn dentures, police said. The cause of death is undetermined but police said there were no signs of foul play. The body had been in the water for a significant period.

A Pikesville developer is moving forward with plans to build 144 high-end townhouses on a waterfront parcel in eastern Baltimore County. Mark C. Sapperstein won County Council approval last night to submit the project as a "planned unit development." The designation, while subjecting the plans to public hearings, allows Sapperstein to break some zoning rules if the project is determined to benefit the community. Early plans call for clusters of six "villa-style" townhomes built on 37 acres on what once was Bauer's Farm in Edgemere.

A waterspout, or tornado over water, was spotted by members of the public over the Back River near Edgemere on Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service said the sightings occurred about 6:40 p.m. About the same time, Doppler Radar indicated a line of thunderstorms moving through the heart of Baltimore's Inner Harbor that are capable of producing strong wind gusts and waterspouts, the weather service said in announcing a special marine warning.

Baltimore officials have decided not to allow the construction of a second processing facility to turn wet sludge into dry pellets at the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant.The first such processing facility -- which uses indirect heat to make the conversion -- is in its start-up phase and is expected to be operational early next year.But plans for a second facility at the city-owned plant in eastern Baltimore County -- using direct heat -- had drawn fire from nearby residents and county politicians.

After more than four years of work, Lower Back River Neck Peninsula residents are praising the Baltimore County Council's approval of a plan they say will protect and preserve their community.At Monday night's meeting, the council approved a plan residents and the county Office of Planning and Zoning put together to preserve the peninsula's marshes and woodlands, and restore its coastal creeks.The plan, which the county Planning Board has approved, calls for limiting development, reducing zoning density and rigorously enforcing environmental regulations.

If an overnight canoe trip down Back River in February doesn't capture your imagination, relax. The idea leaves Jeffrey Leo of Dundalk cold, too.Cold doesn't cover it, though. Try numb. And wet. And embarrassed.Mr. Leo, 24, a Bethlehem Steel worker who lives in the 3100 block of Wallford Drive, said that he "had a couple of days off" and that he decided to take his canoe on an overnight trip.On Wednesday afternoon, he slipped his canoe into Herring Run in Baltimore.Things went well the first day, and he camped out. But yesterday morning, after he paddled down Moore's Run and into Back River, the wind picked up. The waves developed a 1- to 2-foot chop after he passed under the Eastern Avenue bridge.

It's an odor-eater that will cost Baltimore $1.8 million. But neighbors of the city's Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant probably will think it's well worth the money.Residents near the Back River plant in eastern Baltimore County have long complained about the stench from the thousands of tons of raw sewage processed there. When Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke took office in 1987, he pledged to try to clear the air.Yesterday, the city's Board of Estimates awarded a $1.8 million contract to contain and clean the foul-smelling air emanating from one part of the plant.

Concerned residents have recently cleared the Back River and its tributaries of more than 10 tons of debris and are urging officials to address continuing problems with trash flowing into the eastern Baltimore County creeks. The same group, striving to clean up the waterway's image, has adopted a new slogan - "Scenic Back River -- Discover the Hidden Treasure." While that caption will soon appear on nearby bridges and roadways, group members say the waterway still needs much polishing before it achieves gem status.

If an overnight canoe trip down Back River in February doesn't capture your imagination, relax. The idea leaves Jeffrey Leo of Dundalk cold, too.Cold doesn't cover it, though. Try numb. And wet. And embarrassed.Mr. Leo, 24, a Bethlehem Steel worker who lives in the 3100 block of Wallford Drive, said that he "had a couple of days off" and that he thus decided to take his canoe on an overnight trip.On Wednesday afternoon he slipped his canoe into Herring Run in Baltimore.Things went well the first day, and he camped out. But yesterday morning, after he paddled down Moore's Run and into Back River, the wind picked up. The waves developed a 1- to 2-foot chop after he passed under the Eastern Avenue bridge.

Perched atop a weathered navigational marker near Rocky Point in Back River, the osprey shifted nervously, screeched and flew off as a boat full of people approached. With the raptor circling overhead, Rebecca Lazarus climbed onto the marker and peered into its nest, a tangled heap of tree branches and scraps of plastic. "She's got one chick in here," called out Lazarus, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, College Park. The osprey had laid two eggs, but only one hatched.

Rescuers, including the Coast Guard and other local police authorities, are searching for a man after his personal watercraft was found unattended in the Back River near Essex. The Coast Guard reported Harry Gillis, 47, of Baltimore, was missing. According to statement, the Coast Guard received a call at approximately 4 p.m. Tuesday from a man reporting that a blue personal watercraft had drifted to his pier with the keys in the ignition. Coast Guard crew used a boat and a helicopter in its search.

A tot's discarded rocking horse has taken on an artful life and become a compelling symbol of a river befouled by debris. Towson University art students recently salvaged the toy, in two large chunks, during a volunteer clean-up along Back River in Essex. "When it came out of the river, it was scary, dirty and something like the swamp creature," said Vicki Miller, 19, of Parkton, during a class critique last week in anticipation of a trash art auction. But Olivia Moore saw in the yellowed, broken toy the potential to deliver an anti-pollution message.

An array of solar panels, spreading across nearly five acres at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Essex, could deliver significant energy savings and will pay for itself within a decade, officials said Tuesday. The 4,200 American-made panels, installed in the past three months at a cost of about $4 million, have begun to supply about 5 percent of the energy — up to 1,000 kilowatts per hour — needed to run the plant on Eastern Avenue. The plant serves about 1.3 million residents in the city and Baltimore County and can treat 180 million gallons of sewage a day. It uses the methane byproduct from its treatment process to produce about 20 percent of the power for its equipment.

After years of investigation and some limited cleanup, an old Dundalk area dumping ground containing toxic wastes is due for federal attention now. The Environmental Protection Agency announced today (3/13) that it is adding the Sauer Dump to the National Priorities List, also known as Superfund , because the soil and wetland sediment on the 2.5-acre site contain high concentrations of lead, PCBs and other hazardous chemicals. The partly wooded tract on Back River was originally marshland that was filled in by a past owner, according to EPA. Toxic substances were deposited there while it operated as a dump from the 1960s through the 1980s. A number of homes are nearby.

For nearly 30 years, local, state and federal authorities have wrestled with what to do about an old dump in North Point that's been leaking toxic waste into nearby wetlands and Back River. On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the Sauer Dump a Superfund site, making it a priority for a federally supervised cleanup. When it will finally get cleaned up, though, remains an open question. An EPA spokesman said more investigation is needed and couldn't say when work might begin to deal with the contaminants lurking in the soil and sediments.

If an overnight canoe trip down Back River in February doesn't capture your imagination, relax. The idea leaves Jeffrey Leo of Dundalk cold, too.Cold doesn't cover it, though. Try numb. And wet. And embarrassed.Mr. Leo, 24, a Bethlehem Steel worker who lives in the 3100 block of Wallford Drive, said that he "had a couple of days off" and that he thus decided to take his canoe on an overnight trip.On Wednesday afternoon he slipped his canoe into Herring Run in Baltimore.Things went well the first day, and he camped out. But yesterday morning, after he paddled down Moore's Run and into Back River, the wind picked up. The waves developed a 1- to 2-foot chop after he passed under the Eastern Avenue bridge.

On a hazy spring morning, George Malone steers his johnboat toward the head of the Back River in Essex, passing the twin golden domes of the sewage treatment plant and gliding under the Eastern Avenue bridge. In the shallow area he calls the flats, where the water is the color of beef broth, a ripple catches his eye. He draws an arrow. Fires. And reels in what looks to be a grotesquely overgrown goldfish. Each year this time, the waters of the Back River "boil" with spawning carp, says Malone, a retired Eastern Technical High School teacher.

Baltimore County police are trying to identify a man's body they found floating in the Back River last week. On Sept. 8 at about 12:30 p.m., police responded for a call of a body floating in the water near Exit 38 of the Baltimore Beltway — the intersection of Eastern Ave. and I-695 near Essex. Police said the marine unit recovered the body from the water, and the victim was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy. Preliminary autopsy results showed that the victim is a white male, at least 40 years of age, approximately 5-foot-11 and weighing 155 pounds, according to police.

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works said Tuesday that an estimated 2.4 million gallons of sewer overflow spilled into the Back River in Baltimore County on Sunday, Aug. 14, emanating from the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant inEssex. Officials of the city public works department - which operates the treatment plant - said in a release that the spill lasted from about 12:20 to 2 p.m. Officials said the cause of the spill is mostly attributable to the heavy rainfall, much of which infiltrated sewer lines resulting in inflow at the facility above normal levels.