Storm Drains

Courtney Barrett says he became interested in cleaning up his west Baltimore neighborhood after watching a news report about the large amounts of trash that end up in the Chesapeake Bay because people illegally throw waste into storm drains."

Five people were charged yesterday with polluting Maryland waters by illegally discharging runoff from operations to remove lead paint from the outside of buildings in Baltimore, the state attorney general's office said.Authorities alleged that none of the five had the necessary permits to allow them to strip lead paint from the buildings and that all violated state environmental laws designed to ensure that lead-laden water does not enter public storm drains. Conviction on the charges could result in a $25,000 fine and a year in jail.

VISITORS may have been offended by the flotsam in the Inner Harbor after Thursday's monsoon-like rain, but trash thrown down storm drains or lying in gutters in the Jones Falls watershed will invariably make its way to the harbor.There is no argument that all this debris was an unsightly mess. Although the Styrofoam cups, plastic soda bottles and fast-food wrappers were most noticeable, natural debris -- trees, branches, stumps and bushes -- were the largest component by weight.Even with the best storm water management system, there is little that can be done to prevent this type of debris from flowing into the Inner Harbor.

Dozens of Baltimore city workers swept through Mill Hill yesterday, clearing 25 tons of trash, slashing 16,000 feet of overgrown weeds and removing hundreds of feet of graffiti in an attempt to turn the tide in the Southwest Baltimore community's war on drugs and crime.The workers targeted a 13-square-block community sandwiched between Gwynns Falls Park and Washington Village to clear storm drains, bait for rats and board up vacant homes that had become havens for drug users.Southwest District police officers patrolled the neighborhood of 750 homes in a search for prostitutes and drug dealers.

RECENT, HUGE STORMS that swamped drainage systems in Baltimore and elsewhere illustrated two truths:Flooding can occur even in the midst of a drought.And storm drains aren't a good place to grow trees.Baltimore has more than 33,000 storm drains -- known as scuppers -- feeding into 1,000 miles of underground pipes. The city has 10 crews -- of four people each -- assigned to ensure the system is clear, according to the city's public works department. These crews are supposed to clean each scupper twice a year.

Dozens of city workers swept through Mill Hill yesterday, clearing 25 tons of trash, slashing 16,000 feet of overgrown weeds and removing hundreds of feet of graffiti in an attempt to turn the tide in the Southwest Baltimore community's war on drugs and crime.The workers targeted a 13-square-block community sandwiched between Gwynns Falls Park and Washington Village to clear storm drains, bait for rats and board vacant homes that had become havens for drug users.Southwest District police officers aggressively patrolled the neighborhood of 750 homes in a search for prostitutes and drug dealers.

As merchants counted their losses yesterday, Amoco officials -- faced with possible penalties by the state -- continued to mop up after a large gasoline leak that shut down three shopping centers in the Hillendale area, closed roads and forced the evacuation of dozens of residents."

Baltimore County police, firefighters and state environmental officials went door-to-door early today in the Hillendale neighborhood to warn residents about dangerous fumes after more than 4,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from an underground gas station tank at Loch Raven Boulevard and Taylor Avenue.Police said the leaking fuel was traced to the Pleasant Plains Amoco station about 12: 48 a.m., and police were dispatched to the scene to detour traffic and assist in warning residents.Police said none of the leaking fuel found its way onto the street, but that an unknown amount apparently found its way into storm drains under the street.

The storm-weary Baltimore region was due for a heavy, wet winter mess today, but just how much snow piles up outside your door by this afternoon will depend on where you are.National Weather Service forecasters last night were scaling back earlier predictions of 8 to 16 inches of snow, as warmer air from the Atlantic became a bigger factor in the storm.Only 1 to 2 inches was expected to be on the ground by dawn today, with snowfall heavy at times during the morning. By afternoon, the precipitation was to taper off, the weather service said, leaving 6 to 8 inches in the western suburbs and up to a foot in Carroll County.

Demand Surrender from Bosnian SerbsThe writer is the librarian at Magnolia Elementary School.The 'Water Uphill Gang'When I moved into my present home on Rogers Street in 1976, there were obvious problems with erosion on the back of the lot. I accepted this as a project to save my lawn and to reduce soil runoff. I covered steep places with rocks and planted things with long roots to hold the soil firm. In the early '80s, I had a setback when a water main broke in the alley and a town work crew dug up all the plants and top soil in an effort to force water to run uphill.

You won't find Harris Creek on modern maps of Baltimore. For more than a century, it's been filled in and paved over and channeled into underground pipes. But before the industrialization of the Canton waterfront, it was a large body of water - wide enough to be navigable as far north as what is now Patterson Park and deep enough to play host to the boatyard that built the frigate Constellation. The watershed Harris Creek drains is still there in more than 50 miles of underground pipes - along with a small visible vestige of the original creek where a large storm drain spews a mixture of water, runoff and trash into Baltimore Harbor across from the Safeway on Boston Street.

THE PROBLEM: A West Baltimore storm drain is clogged. THE BACKSTORY: It's a sight you might only expect to see in Baltimore. In the 1400 block of Myrtle Ave., where it intersects with West Lafayette Street, several loops of crime scene tape trail from a street light pole into a storm drain blocked by trash. Crews from the Department of Public Works' Bureau of Water and Wastewater clean as many of the city's 33,000 storm drains as they can, but this falls squarely within homeowner or tenant responsibility, said spokesman Kurt Kocher.

Tropical Storm Hanna could bring heavy rains and high winds to Maryland on Saturday, but forecasters predict the region will be spared the storm's brunt. The Baltimore area and Eastern Shore could see 3 inches to 5 inches of rain in places and 50-mph wind gusts, the National Weather Service said. Because of the potential for torrential downpours, flash flooding is possible. But with the severe weather expected to pass east of Ocean City, forecasters said Hanna was unlikely to cause the kind of storm surge in the Chesapeake Bay that made Tropical Storm Isabel so devastating in 2003.

Public needs access to more of the bay When I first moved to Maryland, I was shocked at the very limited number of access points to the Chesapeake Bay for boaters, swimmers and anglers who do not live on the bay. What we have, in essence, is a public body of water supported by billions in federal, state and local taxes that a relative handful of developers and landowners are allowed to treat as their own private marina. And while the column "Blocked from the bay" (June 24) is helpful in bringing this pitiful state of affairs to public notice, it also illustrates the meek attitude of state and local officials in their acceptance of the status quo. For instance, according to one planner the column cites, environmentalists who want more public access to the bay must "partner with developers" because the "only alternative ... will be to wait for bridges to be realigned so that old structures can be used as fishing piers."

The stream has been hidden for years, buried under the streets of Southwest Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods, almost forgotten. Only when it rains does the stream come alive, an underground current that carries with it the litter of storm drains - plastic bags, soda cans and other trash. It emerges near the Carroll Park golf course, disgorging into a rocky bed of the Gwynns Falls that holds a fetid cocktail of sewage and garbage. Far more dangerous is the pollution that the naked eye can't see - nitrogen, zinc and lead from automobile exhaust, among other sources.

THE PROBLEM -- Cornstalks growing in Highlandtown. THE BACKSTORY -- We've all heard about alligators in the sewers. How about corn growing out of storm drains? Watchdog just couldn't ignore this message left on the column's answering machine by Highlandtown resident Richard Rawlings, about a house for sale at Fait Avenue and South Clinton Street: "There are cornstalks growing in the gutter." This is not exactly farm country. But last week there were cornstalks, most about 1 1/2 feet high - growing from under a curb and from a clogged storm drain on the Clinton Street side of the rowhouse.

Perry William Stewart Sr., who began as a laborer and retired as a Baltimore Department of Public Works supervisor, died of a stroke Sunday at University of Maryland Medical Center. The Ednor Gardens resident was 75. Born in Baltimore and raised on Boone Street in Waverly, he attended Dunbar High School before enlisting in the Navy. He served as a cook. After his discharge he worked at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point shipyard for several years until he took a job with the city Department of Public Works.

Two years ago, the city installed a trash-straining system in Gwynns Run after a broken pipe dumped millions of gallons of sewage into the waterway. The apparatus funnels the water through nets that can be lifted up with a pulley and dumped into a trash bin. But there is a problem: The nets are frequently broken, and garbage sails through the $1.7 million system on its way to the Chesapeake Bay, environmentalists say. "The problem with Gwynns Run is that nobody comes back here, and nobody cares," said Dan Dillon, a researcher with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study.

Firefighters and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. crews returned yesterday to the scene of a gas leak in a Westminster neighborhood that affected about 40 homes Monday. The problem began about 10:15 a.m. in the 200 block of Hobbits Lane, an area of new homes in the Stoneridge Overlook development, said Jeff Alexander, assistant chief of Westminster Fire Engine & Hose Company No. 1. A leak in a 2-inch plastic gas main underground was found and repaired by 3:50 p.m. Monday, said Jamie Krumpler, a BGE spokeswoman.

2 sought in string of convenience store robberies since May Maryland State Police are searching for two men they say are responsible for smash-and-grab robberies at several Carroll County convenience stores. Every week since the end of last month, convenience stores throughout the county have been burglarized after closing, between 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., authorities said. Two men have been caught on surveillance cameras, but police said hooded sweat shirts pulled over their heads made it impossible to identify them.