Patapsco River

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is considering tearing down the Bloede Dam, a 230-foot-long, 30-foot-tall bridge across the Patapsco River. Good for them. The sooner they do it, the better. The Bloede Dam is the largest of four dams built in the Patapsco decades ago as power sources, all of which have outlived their usefulness. The state already has removed two of the dams upriver from Bloede, the Union and Simkins. Now, a preliminary report is recommending removing the Bloede, at a cost of $1.1 million.

Fish making the spring spawning run from the Chesapeake Bay upstream into the Patapsco River swim about 11 miles of cool, shallow, flowing water before hitting a concrete wall nearly three stories high: the Bloede Dam. The wildlife obstacle and human safety hazard has stood for more than a century in Patapsco Valley State Park, but its days could be numbered. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is continuing a years-long effort to clear the Patapsco of dams that have outlived their original industrial uses and now turns its attention to Bloede.

It's a much-battered part of the Baltimore Harbor scenery, bobbing in the water just above the Key Bridge on the way to the Inner Harbor. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of boats - including Tall Ships and Navy warships--will pass by the Francis Scott Key buoy this week on their way to take part in Sailabration, Maryland's Star-Spangled commemoration of the War of 1812 . The buoy sits on the spot where the lawyer and amateur poet Key watched...

A warning against water contact in the lower Patapsco River issued nearly two months ago has been lifted, the Anne Arundel County health department announced Monday. Health officials had ordered an emergency closure of the river downstream from Annapolis Road in Brooklyn and warned against swimming or other water contact after sewage spilled March 25 from a Baltimore County pumping station. Workers halted the spill soon afterward, according to a spokesman for the county public works department.

Environmental groups are appealing a federal judge's ruling that the owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill need only do a limited search for offshore pollution from the plant. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and its legal partners, including the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, have filed notice with the U.S. District Court in Baltimore of their intention to appeal a decision by Judge J. Frederick Motz accepting a plan by the steel plant's current owner, RG Steel, to test for contamination no more than 50 feet into the Patapsco River and Bear Creek.

Anne Arundel County police responding to a report of a shooting in Pumphrey found a man who had been shot and killed early Sunday, according to a release from the department. Officers were called to the 200 block of Bolivar Ave., in the northern part of the county near the Patapsco River, around 1:12 a.m., police said. There, they found Bryant Donell Bagley, 46, of the 800 block of N. Rose St. in Baltimore, lying shot in the road. The county fire department pronounced him dead at the scene.

A 24-year-old man fell off a 30-foot cliff in Patapsco Valley State Park Sunday afternoon, landing in a remote area of the park and sustaining injuries that required his rescue by a Baltimore County Fire Department team. It took the team an hour to reach the man and hoist him back up the cliff to a waiting State Police helicopter. Elise Armacost, spokeswoman for Baltimore County police, said the man and his female companion were sitting atop the cliff about 4:40 p.m when he fell.

Baltimore County utility crews dealt with yet another sewage spill at the Patapsco Sewage Pumping Station in Baltimore Highlands. About 525,000 gallons of sewage spilled from a 54-inch concrete pipe Saturday into the lower Patapsco River. The county spent $500,000 to replace aging pipes earlier this month after a main conduit ruptured in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and poured about 100 million gallons of raw sewage into the river over the course of a week. Crews discovered a joint failure in the new piping last week and the overflow occurred during the ensuing repair for a few hours early Saturday morning.

Even mild flooding in Ellicott City gives anyone who lived through Hurricane Agnes the shivers. I went looking for Hurricane Agnes stories in the Sun's archvies and found this. The editor's note is from 2007, mabye from 35th anniversary coverage of the storm. I can only guess at the mixed feelings of the reporter who heard Omar Jones utter that opening quote. (Editor's note: On June 21-22, 1972, Tropical Storm Agnes destroyed much of historic Ellicott City and areas of Elkridge.

A body was pulled from the Patapsco River near Harbor Hospital Wednesday afternoon, fire officials confirmed. Fire officials could not immediately provide details but said that a call was received around noon from the hospital reporting a body in the water. A fire rescue boat, an engine company and an EMS unit investigated and found a body near the hospital. It was unclear if the body was related to reports Sunday that someone had jumped from the Hanover Street bridge. Justin.fenton@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts