Pipe

Anne Arundel County is not expected to start dredging Mill Creek until late 2009, nearly four years after 3 million gallons of sewage and sediment were dumped into the waterway. County officials will share with residents at a meeting tonight their plan to deal with the aftereffects of the spill and chronic urban runoff, which has raised the creek bed and narrowed the entranceway for boats into the Magothy River. The Department of Public Works will present a year's worth of monitoring studies and discuss progress in obtaining dredging permits to excavate the sand and sediment.

ALL IT TAKES is a few chilly nights to remind us that it won't be long before freezing temperatures move in for winter. So, before the wind chill heads into negative figures, now is the time to think about winterizing your house.The first thing to do is shut off exterior hose bibs. This is surprisingly easy to forget. Turn the faucet off on the inside and open it up on the outside. This will allow the water to drain out of the pipe and prevent it from freezing and possibly breaking the pipe.

More than 14,000 Marylanders have now taken advantage of a $950 million settlement against Shell Chemical Co. that provides homeowners nationwide with free replacement of leaking polybutylene (PB) plastic plumbing systems and reimbursement for property damage.Not every PB system leaks, but the material is susceptible to corrosion when it comes into contact with chlorinated water, resulting in breakage and splitting of PB piping.Design and installation errors also contribute to the leakage.

It is a miserable gray afternoon. A fierce wind rips up trees. A sea of rain washes into the Jones Falls as Hurricane Floyd drags its soggy self up the East Coast.All this makes Adele V. Holden's fifth-floor apartment seem even more more comfortable, even more appealing. She has hot coffee and graham crackers waiting. Outside the storm rages, but inside there is easy conversation and a story of days past.Holden has just published "Down on The Shore," her memoir of growing up in Pocomoke City during the 1920s and '30s.

GUTTERS ARE an unappreciated art form.The ancient Greeks carved troughs in the cornice stones of their temples to carry water away from their roofs. The builders of medieval cathedrals added gargoyles with bubbling mouths to gutter art. Here in America, our gutters channel water off our roofs, sometimes miraculously sending it into the dark nether reaches of the storm sewer network. Yet few adults seem to notice.I am as guilty as the next guy of not being grateful for good gutters. I confess that often as I hurry along life's way, I rarely take the time to stop and admire the downspouts.

A 12-year-old Pasadena boy was trapped 6 feet underground for more than three hours yesterday afternoon when he became lodged in a storm-water drain while playing with friends."

THE SCHMOKE administration is full of reasons why it can't make restitution to people whose homes were destroyed by a huge water main break a month ago:The city can't set a precedent that might make it liable for future such catastrophes; an already-strapped government can't afford it; an act of God due to warmer weather, not city malfeasance, caused a shift in the earth that snapped the pipe.That last excuse seems unusual given that 1) it is supposed to get warmer in Baltimore each spring, and 2)

Calling it an extraordinary occurrence, Baltimore officials say the city is not responsible for its most devastating water-main break in memory but will help residents of the flooded neighborhood pay for some of their losses.City lawyers have determined there was no warning of any problem with the huge pipe in East Baltimore that burst May 10 and damaged dozens of rowhouses, including 15 so undermined by the surging water that they had to be demolished.Nonetheless, the city has agreed to provide at least some financial aid for the residents, many of whom were underinsured or had limited homeowners insurance for fire and theft.

IT WASN'T the dog fur, or the dryer lint, or the scraps from laundering the rag rugs that clogged up the main drain leading from Karol's house to the sewer connection at the street."

Coast Guard and Ocean City public works crews completed the cleanup yesterday of an estimated 71 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled into Sinepuxent Bay when a pipe broke near the Talbot Street Pier, officials said.The Ocean City Office of Emergency Management said the spill occurred about 6: 15 p.m. Monday when a 2-inch pipe that supplied fuel oil at a marina ruptured.The fuel spilled from a pipe at Angler Marina near Talbot Street, said Lt. j.g. Eric Miller of the Coast Guard's marine safety office in Hampton Roads, Va.Miller said the spill was contained by 8 a.m. yesterday with the help of a containment boom placed in the water.

An investigation into how a large water main that burst and flooded River Road in Montgomery County last year was allowed to be installed improperly has found that inspection records for the pipe might have been thrown away inadvertently, leaving the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission unable to determine whether other pipes could have similar problems, WSSC officials said Thursday. Officials said three months of searching have failed to turn up daily inspection reports that would have revealed what the utility's inspectors witnessed as the 66-inch concrete pipe was laid in the ground in 1965, or at least what they recorded.

The water main breaks that closed major Baltimore streets and disrupted rail service in April also washed away sizable chunks the city's budget. Fixing the 20-inch main that ruptured at Gay and Lombard streets on April 28 cost $222,523, according to figures from the city's finance department. That does not include thousands of dollars in police and fire overtime, or the lost work of city employees sent home because there was no water service in their buildings. The city spent $69,258 to repair another water main break the next day, when a 36-inch pipe burst in Halethorpe and delayed Amtrak service on the eastern seaboard.

A portion of downtown Baltimore affected by a massive water main break earlier this week may not be back to normal until at least Friday, city officials said. Several city agencies coordinated on tackling the gushing water main, which burst Tuesday morning at the intersection of Gay and Lombard streets around 6 a.m. and flooded several streets in the area. Six buildings in the area were closed Wednesday, including the Civil Division District Courthouse on Fayette Street, as they either had low water pressure, or no water at all. City leaders, including Mayor Sheila Dixon, blamed the break on the overall state of the city's water lines, which they described as aging and in constant need of repair.

River Road in Bethesda, which flooded Dec. 23 after an underground water main burst, reopened to traffic at 3 a.m. yesterday. The 66-inch-diameter pipe ruptured during morning rush hour, submerging the street and stranding commuters, some of whom had to be plucked from their vehicles by rescuers in helicopters. The unusual scene was carried live on CNN. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission contractors worked nearly around the clock to repair the damage, replacing five 16-foot sections of pipe that weighed 14 tons each, officials said.

THE PROBLEM -- A large hole is hidden by tall weeds near the BWI Trail in Anne Arundel County. THE BACKSTORY -- The 12.5-mile trail that loops around Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport gives walkers a chance to watch airplanes and enjoy some greenery in the middle of an industrial area. But in the middle of a grassy median between Route 170 and the trail is a hole, directly across from the southernmost entrance to the Northrop Grumman Corp., just south of the entrance to the BWI Amtrak station.

Anne Arundel County is not expected to start dredging Mill Creek until late 2009, nearly four years after 3 million gallons of sewage and sediment were dumped into the waterway. County officials will share with residents at a meeting tonight their plan to deal with the aftereffects of the spill and chronic urban runoff, which has raised the creek bed and narrowed the entranceway for boats into the Magothy River. The Department of Public Works will present a year's worth of monitoring studies and discuss progress in obtaining dredging permits to excavate the sand and sediment.

Howard County officials discovered and cleared yesterday a sewer pipe blockage that might have spilled 720,000 gallons of untreated wastewater over eight days onto wooded ground in an industrial area of Jessup. Jeff Mozal, operations manager for the county Bureau of Utilities, said plastic bags, grease and debris clogged a 12-inch pipe near Montevideo Road that takes waste to Baltimore's Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant, causing water to back up and pour from manholes along the line.

Repair of a badly deteriorated 54-inch water main in southwestern Baltimore County is forcing mandatory outdoor summer water restrictions for Howard County residents using public water, starting May 1, county officials said yesterday. Outdoor water use will be regulated on an odd-even basis until at least Sept. 1, said county James M. Irvin, the public works director. Residents and businesses with even-numbered street addresses will be allowed to use water outdoors on even-numbered days, and odd-numbered addresses may use water on odd-numbered days.

Chris Cahoon Welder apprentice Poole and Kent Corp., Baltimore Salary --$21.84 an hour Age --27 Years on the job --Four years in the industry. How he got started --After serving in the Marine Corps for five years, Cahoon went back to South Carolina where he grew up. But when job prospects were not encouraging, he moved to Baltimore where a sister lived. He always liked working with his hands and was interested in labor unions and workers' rights. He decided to apply to the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 486 in Rosedale.

Baltimore: Federal court Man gets 10 years in firearm case A 49-year-old Baltimore man was sentenced in federal court yesterday to 10 years in prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Edwin Tucker pleaded guilty to the charges that stemmed from a June 2002 search by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives. The agents found the drug Xanax, money, a 12-gauge shotgun and a box of .22-caliber ammunition in his home, according to prosecutors.