Several area beaches remain closed heading into the holiday after almost 6 million gallons of raw sewage poured into a Bay tributary in Rosedale over the weekend.
Baltimore County officials said they successfully diverted the overflow into a city sewage manhole Saturday evening, but said health advisories are still in place in Back River. The public should not drink or come in contact with water in Back River, environmental officials said, and the beach at Rocky Point has been closed until further notice.
State officials have closed Gunpowder Falls Hammerman Area and Elk Neck State Park to swimming until further notice.
“No more pollution is going into Moore?s Run,” county Public Works spokesman David Fidler said Monday. “At the moment, everything is under control.”
Fidler said the Rosedale pipe broke just north of the Redhouse Run Pumping Station late Thursday morning after heavy winds and rain last weekend. Waste spilled at 1,600 gallons per minute into Moore?s Run until about 8:40 p.m. Saturday.
“That?s huge,” said Maryland Department of the Environment spokesman Chuck Gates. “It?s in the water, so you can?t clean it up. Luckily with all the rainfall, there is a lot of water diluting it.”
Gates said the Rosedale spill is the largest of many across the state since last week?s storms, including 20 in Baltimore County. There, spills ranged from 25,000 gallons of waste to 5.9 million gallons in Rosedale.
Gates said penalties might be assessed, but are unlikely considering the unavoidable causes. Fidler said protection against such a break was built 16 years ago, but apparently failed.
The water quality of Back River is already polluted, Darin Crew of the Herring Run Watershed Association said few restoration efforts are ever made there. He blamed problems on development and proximity to the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant, which serves Baltimore City and much of the county.
Environmental experts said the spills will affect oxygen and nutrient levels of the river and Bay and could harm fish and wildlife.
