Cleanup

Haven't paid your city property taxes? Then you're on the city's list of owners whose properties could end up in tax sale this May, along with nearly 27,000 others who (as of last week) were behind on taxes, water bills or other city tabs. That's more than 10 percent of city properties, located in neighborhoods as varied as Poppleton and the Inner Harbor . If previous years are any judge, many owners will pay up quickly and avoid tax sale altogether. Here's an interactive map that shows where all the properties are. You can click on the dots for more details, including the address, who owns and how much the city says they owe. (Keep in mind that some may have paid already -- and at least one is an error .)

Could pollution "trading" really shave billions of dollars from the costs of restoring the Chesapeake Bay?  Or would the long-running cleanup effort suffer at the hands of those looking to make a buck on it? A study presented Thursday to the Chesapeake Bay Commission suggests there could indeed be significant cost savings from letting polluters pay others to make less expensive reductions in bay-fouling nutrient pollution elsewhere.  RTI International, an economic consulting firm from Research Triangle Park NC, found that savings could range from 20 to 80 percent, depending on how trading is structured.

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Steep projected costs for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay could be trimmed by billions of dollars, a new study suggests, by allowing polluters to buy "credits" for less-expensive reductions made by others. The study, presented Thursday to the Chesapeake Bay Commission, an advisory panel of legislators from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, estimates that nutrient pollution trading could trim projected costs for upgrading sewage treatment plants and controlling urban and suburban storm water pollution by $1 billion or more a year baywide.

This is what progress looks like in cleaning up one of the most polluted industrial sites in the Chesapeake Bay region: A lone pump labors in a rubble-strewn field at Sparrows Point, making soft gasping noises as it siphons a thin stream of oily waste from underground. The pump is one of the first put in by steelmaker Severstal North America to tap the huge plume of contamination underlying the 2,300-acre peninsula in Baltimore's harbor, where the dirty business of making steel has been practiced for more than a century.

Although this year's community clean-up Sept. 10 was two months later than usual, it was another success because of dozens of volunteers. They contributed time and energy, some anonymously. We express a big thank you to all. We filled seven roll-off large metal outdoor trash containers, besides recycling approximately 100 pounds of aluminum, 80 gallons of paint and 30 used tires. First and foremost, I want to thank Councilman Tom Quirk, (and staff members) Pete Kriscumas and Kathy Engers, who not only returned us to Baltimore County's community clean-up program, but came out and got dirty with the rest of us. I also thank Al Nalley, Betty Cain, Harriet Pittman, Phil Schaefer, Frank Shiloh, Lloyd and Cathi Anderson and Telik Johnson.

Officials from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia said Wednesday that despite budget woes, the states are on track to hit near-term targets for reducing pollution fouling the Chesapeake Bay. But activists, who rallied in Annapolis on the eve of a bay summit in Baltimore, questioned the states' claims and called for federal pressure on them to take even stronger actions. "The states have not been able to do it themselves, despite promises to do so," said William C. Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

When John Long was a child, there were minnows in Bread and Cheese Creek, a stream that wandered by his grandfather's house in Dundalk. Long lives in that house now, and the stream named for the rations consumed by British and American troops on its shores during the War of 1812 is now clogged with debris - everything from shopping carts to refrigerators, tires and automobile doors. Long, his wife, Erin, and 11-year-old daughter Tamsyn, plus nearly 100 volunteers, cleared out about a mile of the creek Saturday.

After more than a week of hacking away at underbrush and weedy trees, landscape workers have tamed nearly 30 years of neglect at one of Baltimore's oldest Roman Catholic cemeteries. The 7-acre St. Vincent DePaul Cemetery, which is surrounded by Clifton Park, has emerged from its first cleanup since it officially closed in the 1980s. Workers cleared away tall grasses, unruly trees and nearly five tons of debris around four sections of askew grave markers and upturned headstones.

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.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other environmental groups have urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the federal government's plan for reducing pollution fouling the estuary. The lawsuit filed in 2011 by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau contends that the Environmental Protection Agency did not have the authority to issue the pollution limits, that the public was not granted sufficient opportunity to review and comment, and that the limits are based upon flawed computer modeling and input data.  Other agricultural and building industry groups later joined the suit.

Earth Day weekend is upon us.  I can tell because my email inbox is jammed with pitches for "green" products and corporate campaigns: Clothing made from recycled plastic bottles; natural skin care products; hybrid auto accessories, even pet waste collection bags. Marketing has its place, I suppose. But in keeping with the origins of Earth Day, there are plenty of opportunities to demonstrate concern about the state of our planet and community, without having to buy stuff. Here are some: Baltimore Green Works is holding a week's worth of activities from April 21 to April 28 in celebration of Earth Day. On Saturday, there'll be tree plantings and other activities in the morning, followed by EcoFest at Druid Hill Park from noon to 5 p.m. Gardening workshops, hikes and walks, bike rides, entertainment and a tree giveaway.

Volunteers can help keep Laurel's Granville Gude Park clean by participating in an Earth Day Park Cleanup on Saturday, April 28. Participants will meet at the lake house, 8300 Mulberry St., at 9 a.m., and should wear appropriate clothing for working outdoors. Trash bags and gloves will be provided, and a limited number of Earth Day T-shirts will be available for volunteers. Students can earn service hours and should bring their own forms. For more information, call the Laurel Department of Parks and Recreation at 301-725-7800.

Spring cleaning season is upon us, and Saturday there'll be a whole lotta cleaning goin' on along water ways around B'more. Project Clean Stream , the annual stream and shoreline cleanup campaign coordinated by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, kicks into high gear tomorrow (4/14).  There are dozens of cleanups scheduled in the Baltimore area and dozens more around Maryland.  Last year, more than 5,000 volunteers hauled roughly 300,000 pounds of trash and debris from streams and woods at more than 220 sites across the bay watershed.

Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway 12th annual River Sweep, a volunteer shoreline and roadside clean-up in honor of Earth Day, will take place in Havre de Grace, Perryville, Port Deposit and on Garrett Island on Saturday April 21. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., with the cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine. Volunteers will meet at 8:30 in one of the five locations for registration: Tydings Park, Havre de Grace; Community Park or the boat launch on River Road in Perryville; or Marina Park or Octoraro Creek in Port Deposit.

In a legislative session marked by discord over taxes and gambling, lawmakers came together to pass three major bills aimed at boosting Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. They failed to agree, however, on other environmental priorities - a bill to subsidize building wind turbines off Ocean City, and a measure requiring natural gas companies to pay for studying the impacts of drilling for energy in western Maryland. The General Assembly approved two bay billls that were priorities of the O'Malley administration bills, one doubling the 'flush fee' to pay for upgrading sewage treatment plants and another limiting rural development on septic systems.  A third late-moving bill pushed by environmentalists would require Baltimore city and nine suburban counties to levy local fees to pay for curbing polluted runoff from their streets and parking lots.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Tuesday taking over cleanup of a former fireworks and munitions plant near Elkton in Cecil County because of extensive groundwater contamination there. The agency announced it was proposing the Dwyer property, as the 73-acre tract is known, for inclusion on the Superfund National Priorities List, a compendium of the most polluted sites in the nation. The abandoned and overgrown property has been under investigation by the Maryland Department of the Environment since 1989.

Orioles manager Dave Trembley made significant changes in the starting lineup of Tuesday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, looking to "change the routine a little bit" with the team off to a 1-6 start. The most notable switch was who was batting fourth, where catcher Matt Wieters, in his first full major league season, got his first taste of batting cleanup for the Orioles. Wieters, who first learned he was batting cleanup when he saw his name penciled in on the posted lineup card in the clubhouse, downplayed the significance, seeing it as a chance for the team to shake things up and find a way to win ballgames.

In a move aimed at helping Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, the General Assembly adopted a bill late last night mandating that Maryland's largest localities, including Baltimore city and its suburbs, levy fees on their residents to pay for controlling polluted runoff from streets, parking lots and buildings. HB987 cleared the Senate after a protracted debate and repeated efforts by opponents to limit the requirement.  All failed, though senators did exempt state, county and municipal governments and volunteer fire companies from having to pay any fees.

When executive vice president Dan Duquette began assembling the 2012 Orioles, he kept in mind one of manager Buck Showalter's requests. If possible, Showalter did not want to be saddled with a strict designated hitter this season like he was in 2011 when declining superstar Vladimir Guerrero clogged the DH and cleanup spots. Heading into Friday's opener, and barring an 11th hour signing of a DH without a home — Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Guerrero are still available — Showalter will be able to mix and match his DH this season.