NEWS
By Larry Carson | June 3, 2008
To such well-known threats to the health of the Chesapeake Bay as nitrogen from farm fertilizers and runoff brought on by suburban sprawl, add a less-obvious danger: bacon grease. Homeowners who dump fat down the kitchen drain account for a growing share of sewage system overflows throughout Maryland. Most are minor, but grease buildup in a sewer line was blamed for a spill of more than a half-million gallons into woods next to the Patuxent River in Howard County this year. Yesterday, officials gathered on the banks of the Little Patuxent in Ellicott City's Centennial Park to call on cooks to be more careful.
NEWS
By Richard Irwin | March 18, 2008
Work crews from Baltimore City and Baltimore County labored last night in eastern Baltimore County to repair breaks in a 12-inch water main and a sewer line several feet under it. Heavy traffic was detoured from the site, at Hazelwood Avenue and Daybreak Terrace, as water gushed from the break. Kurt L. Kocher, a spokesman for the city's Department of Public Works, said the water main would be repaired first and that water could be restored by this morning. "We're hoping for that before the sewage line is repaired," he said.
NEWS
December 11, 2007
An estimated 40,000 gallons of sewage overflowed from a broken line in Timonium before it was repaired late Sunday, according to county officials. The break in the 12-inch sewer line beneath East Padonia Road, between Quiet Stream Court and Sunnylake Place, was detected about 9 a.m. Sunday and was repaired by that night, according to Baltimore County officials. The county's Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management has posted signs advising residents to avoid contact with the waters of Merryman Branch, a tributary of Loch Raven Reservoir.
NEWS
By Kimberly Marselas | November 18, 2007
Eighteen years after Chris Mikesell bought a 1,000-square-foot cottage, he and his wife have finally saved enough money for some remodeling. But they may have to scrap those plans for a $50,000 to $60,000 upgrade they don't want. Another property owner in the 30-lot community of Carrs Manor, just across from the Annapolis city line, successfully petitioned Anne Arundel County for a sewer line extension that will cost an estimated $1.4 million -- a price that would be divided among all the property owners.
NEWS
By Laura Barnhardt | September 30, 2007
When Baltimore County decided to build a sewer line through their yard, James and Debbie Schneider knew there would be noise and dust. The peach trees would be knocked down and the grass torn up. But then, the Essex couple says, the crews bulldozed the kids' pool and the brick outdoor grill, built a 20-foot mountain of smelly sludge and parked a large crane next door. James Schneider warned the county not to get too close to the home's septic system. The crew accidentally destroyed it. The project was supposed to take a year.
NEWS
By a Sun Reporter | July 27, 2007
Howard County is preparing to build a 10.5-mile, $66 million sewer line along the Little Patuxent River from Savage to Centennial Park. Design work for the line, which will parallel an existing gravity sewer line along the river, is under way, and county officials hope construction will begin next summer. The pipe's diameter will vary from 42 inches at the treatment plant, where the work will begin, to 27 inches at its northern terminus. The project is intended to provide sewer service in the eastern part of the county through the year 2035, including the redevelopment of central Columbia, said Wes Daub, project manager.
NEWS
April 20, 2007
County officials issued a stop work order on a sewer line at the future site of an upscale Towson development after discovering earlier this week that work was being done without a required grading permit. The sewer runs from the construction site of The Quarters, a $170 million condominium and apartment complex at the intersection of Dulaney Valley Road and Fairmount Avenue. A nearby resident alerted county officials after observing that a number of trees had been cut down Tuesday. After determining that a grading permit had not yet been issued, the county told the subcontractors to stop cutting down trees, said Tom Vidmar, the deputy director of the county's Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management.
NEWS
August 30, 2006
A contractor digging up an old sewer line in Northeast Baltimore yesterday caused a sewage overflow that the city's Department of Public Works estimated at 15 to 20 gallons a minute. Efforts to stop the spill near the 5200 block of Goodnow Road were continuing yesterday afternoon. Officials said rough terrain was hampering their work. The city said in a statement that a new sewer line is being installed. The old line will be bypassed and cemented shut. Signs are being posted, and residents are urged to avoid contact with Biddison Run, which runs through the Eastern Sanitation Yard.
NEWS
By JOHN FRITZE | December 30, 2005
About 22,000 gallons of untreated sewage was dumped into the Jones Falls at 3300 Clipper Mill Road on Wednesday and early yesterday morning after a sewer line broke. The overflow came as the city's Department of Public Works works on a $900 million upgrade of the sewer system. In 2002, Baltimore officials signed a consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency to eliminate overflows. A city spokesman said the overflow occurred on a sewer line that is being replaced and was contained by 3:30 a.m. yesterday.
NEWS
December 13, 2005
Sympathies go out to residents of Baltimore's central city communities who will spend the next year or so with their streets torn up to install a new sewer line. As The Sun's John Fritze reported Sunday, neighbors from Hampden to East Baltimore worry that the project will be noisy, disruptive, damaging to their property and so disturbing to subterranean life that rats will be scurrying through their yards. Some are skeptical of the project's value, and of city promises to finish it as swiftly as possible.