Property owners say pumping stations cause Bay pollution
By Jason Flanagan
Examiner Staff Writer 1/15/09
The group Protecting the Rights Of Property Owners of Anne Arundel County claims pumping stations that pull sewage from septic tanks are dumping millions of gallons of untreated waste into creeks, causing fish kills and beach closures.
"It's amazing what's going on, and yet they're blaming it on the homeowner who builds a deck," said Tom Redmond, one of PROPO's directors.
Redmond and Del. Don Dwyer, R-Anne Arundel, presented data Tuesday from a six-month study that shows 4 million gallons of sewage spilled over from Anne Arundel pumping stations between 2005 and 2008.
Statewide, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants spewed 383 million gallons of sewage during the same time frame, according to data the group obtained from the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The claim that sewage pumps are a leading cause of pollution is PROPO's argument against a failed proposal to require homeowners in Anne Arundel's environmentally sensitive areas to install $17,000 upgrades to their septic tanks and a new fee on creating additional impervious surfaces, said Redmond and Dwyer.
Pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants will release sewage into creeks and rivers when heavy rains overburden systems, or the system comes under the strain of running over capacity or power is lost during storms.
"The raw sewage being pumped by these pumping stations is poisonous," Dwyer said in his written remarks during a press conference this week at a Glen Burnie pumping station. "When a failure occurs and the raw sewage is released, it kills everything in its path."
But county and state officials refute the claims of Redmond and Dwyer, saying stormwater runoff accounts for 85 percent of Bay pollution, while sewage overflows make up less than one hundredths of a percent of total nitrogen output detremental to the Bay. The failed legislation would have addressed those major issues while imposing fees and restrictions on some homeowners.
"Those allegations are false," said County Executive John R. Leopold. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."
At Curtis Creek, overflows from the pumping stations account for .027 percent of the nitrogen load, according to data from Anne Arundel officials.
"In cases where chronic sewage overflows have been identified within a jurisidiction, MDE has taken appropriate enforcement actions to compel required repairs and upgrades to eliminate the problem," said Kim Lamphier, MDE spokeswoman, who added that sewage overflows are an important issue albeit a small cause of Bay pollution.
But Redmond and Dwyer want to know why these stations keep overflowing, and are demanding state and local funding increases to boost capacity and provide backup generators to prevent failures.
"This needs to be brought out to the environmental groups to ask them why we aren't focusing on this issue," Redmond said. "I mean, what goes unreported? What goes on that we don't know about?"
1 Comments
Reader Comments:
POSTED Jan 15, 2009
mduno: "Another example of Delegate Blowhard and Council loser Redman not letting the facts get in the way of a good story."