On March 7, 2012 I introduced HB 1163 to the Environmental Matters Committee for a favorable report on the bill. The title of the bill is Environment-Penalty for Sewerage Overflow-Establishment and Distribution.
Over the course of the past year, having listened to various issues about the mandated Water Implementation Plan (WIP) for the State of Maryland, I began to investigate the far too frequent sewerage overflow and/ or bypass incidents that result in the discharge of raw or diluted sewerage into the waters of the State. 2011 was a year of record rainfall that triggered many overflow events. For whatever reason, the media has not reported on the real magnitude of the problem.
The northeast portion of the United States during late August and the weeks following, endured back to back major storms, namely Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, which resulted in major flooding problems in the northern Chesapeake Bay region. These storms produced the third highest volume of water to pass through the Conowingo Dam in the history of the dam. That scouring effect may have produced problems and pollutions that have not yet been focused on. Some of these problems became the driving force leading to this proposed legislation.
After requesting information from the Department of the Environment (MDE) for overflows that have occurred above the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, I was amazed that the number was 740. As it turns out, there were nearly 2100 reports of sewerage overflows in calendar year 2011 reported to the Maryland Reported Sewer Overflow Database for the entire State. The report includes 94 overflows of at least one million gallons each.
Along with this record sewer overflow and bypass information, came the news that a mortality rate of 90% of the natural oysters found in the upper Chesapeake Bay had also occurred as a result of the massive storms. I began to talk with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about the cost and process of a reseeding program of natural oysters in the upper Chesapeake Bay to replace these natural filters, devastated by the combination of sewer overflows and rainwater runoff from the 2011 season.
DNR came up with a cost estimate to help replace the oysters. My next action was to work with bill drafting to draft legislation that would provide for a civil penalty, applied by MDE, on a per gallon basis. Based on the DNR’s estimated cost for oyster restoration and the average yearly overflow, this penalty came out to be $0.009 per gallon of sewage discharged.
To provide a visual aid of the magnitude of the overflow problem of over 1,400,000,000 gallons of sewage reaching the waters of the State, I used the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore as follows:
The football field (including end zones) = 360 ft x 160 ft = 57,600 sq ft. The stadium measures 185 feet from the field to the top. Therefore the cubic volume of the field to the top of the stadium =10,656,000 cubic ft. One cubic ft of water equals 7.48 gallons. There were 1.4 billion gallons of bypass, sanitary sewer overflows, and combined sewer overflows in 2011 according to MDE. 1,400,000,000 divided by 7.48 = 187,165,770 cubic ft of sewage overflows. Since the cubic volume of the field to the top of the stadium = 10,656,000 cubic ft and the volume of the sewage overflows=187,165,770 cubic ft, the area needed to hold this polluted sewage water would require 17.5 M&T Bank Stadiums from the playing field to the top of the stadium.
Included with a cover letter that was provided to each member of the Environmental Matters Committee regarding the proposed penalty legislation was a list of infectious agents potentially present in untreated domestic wastewater. Some of those included were; Escherichia coli, leptospira, salmonella, shigella, vibrio cholera, balantium coli, cryptosporidium parvum, entamoeba histolytica, giardia lamblia, ascaris lumbricoides, t. sodium, trichuris trichiura, enertroviruses (72) types, hepatitis a virus, Norwalk agent, and rotavirus. This information was provided at my request by the MDE.
The analysis provided in the fiscal note for this bill assumes that the civil penalty established by the bill is in addition to other penalties already established. Funds derived from this penalty are to be used exclusively for oyster restoration in the Bay.
The natural filtering provided to the Bay by the oysters MUST be restored and the effort to do so must start as soon as possible. Funding is critical. This bill provides the means to prevent a far reaching environmental disaster beyond the challenges already facing the Bay. Legislative action in support of HB 1163 is vital. Citizens should contact the Governor’s office and Legislators and urge their support-ASAP!
Delegate Jay Jacobs represents the 36th District of Maryland
Mike Johnson says
Great job Jay. Keep it up !
Jack Offett says
Yeah. Great job. It seems for Mr. Jacobs’ first foray into governance he seeks to impose penalties on water-side municipalities facing sewerage disasters caused by Acts of God. As he well knows, while undesirable, sewerage overflows sometimes are the only solution to an unusually overloaded system.
If the delegate wants to impose a penalty, direct the penalty to the individual users of the systems so that they understand the impact of their sewerage on the Bay in times of a natural weather disaster. Let every user pay his/her equal share of the penalty. That spur otherwise sluggish local leadership.
Also, if the delegate was serious about alleviating this overflow problem (highly unlikely) put the money back into the municipal sewer systems and not in the hands of the CBF, the River Associations and other NPOs who continue to work at odds against the average citizen, families, and job creators.
Gren Whitman says
Modern wastewater treatment systems are public-health necessities for urban areas, large and small.
However, as Del. Jacobs surely knows, no wastewater treatment system can possibly be scaled large enough to accommodate “acts of God,” i.e., enormous storms like Irene and Lee.
It’s indeed true that most wastewater plants overflow during heavy rains, but a treatment plant that’s designed to handle a hurricane would be far too expensive to build and far too expensive to operate.
Del. Jacobs is encouraged to bring his energy and attention to bear on such other important sources of pollution as mishandled chicken wastes, storm-water runoff, expansions of impermeable surfaces, destruction of woods and fields (natural filter systems), indiscriminate and widespread use of chemical lawn fertilizers, fallout from coal burning plants, failing septic systems, illegal dumping, and just plain old population growth in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Win Trice says
Septic tanks do not create this problem that exists with municipal systems.
Could it be that the smartest growth is growth that avoids municipal systems?
Hope Clark says
For readers…in case you do want to write the Governor, here’s the link https://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/
DLaMotte says
Thank you Del. Jacobs for this Bill. The thought of this raw sewage overflowing into the Bay is revolting…
whether the cause is from Acts of God or not, this needs attention, now. We all will pay otherwise.
Marc Castelli says
It seems as if a few of the readers missed the point.Jay’s bill is not about managing acts of nature.It is about managing calls of nature in a mature and responsible way. Time is up people! Lets stop the nitpicking and get on with protecting the watershed. This fine per spill system would pay to restore oysters in the upper bay.Just to let you know this is the first time in recorded history that there have been no oysters to harvest in the upper bay.Do not point an uneducated finger at the industry and cry,”overharvesting”. Mother nature dealt the state an unexpected blow and the state has decided to use the disaster as an excuse to cut the public fishery loose.The state has plans to recondition bars,cleanse sediment,move oysters from threatened areas,reseed and replant.It just doesn’t care to implement them.Their first cry of defense is,”There are no funds”. Delegate Jacob’s bill provides for that. It also provides an impetus to clean up an incredibly filthy situation in the rivers and the Bay..
Gren Whitman says
Del. Jacobs’s estimate of 1.4 billion gallons of overflowing sewage sounds big and scary, to be sure.
Don’t be misled, however. Because the Bay holds 18 trillion (with a “t”) gallons, his analogy of 17.5 M&T Stadiums overflowing is — literally and figuratively — a drop in the bucket.
Because over-capacity wastewater plants are expensive to build, operate and maintain, holding wastewater treatment plants accountable for “acts of God” actually means holding cities and towns accountable for being reasonable and practical with their normal-sized plants.
Does Mr. Jacobs want Rock Hall fined every time its water treatment plant overflows? Does he want to spend the considerable extra taxpayers’ money needed to build a plant that’s large enough not to overflow after a heavy rain?
“Let’s fine the sewage plants to restore the oyster beds” sounds good, but a little bit of thought shows that it’s an impractical idea that probably won’t clear the Environmental Matters Committee.
joe diamond says
Apples and oranges, your honor!
Municipal sewerage and water run off is an important aspect of modern life. Biological scientists have warned of the dangers of not treating biological waste. There is no disagreement on the dangers. There are many approaches to handeling the issue but all agree the best way must be found and implemented. We must stop using public waters as a toilet.
Chesapeake fisheries are another important aspect of modern life. If future generations are to even know or experience the benefits of the Chesapeake fishery must, among other things, stop using public waters such as the Chesapeake and all its tributaries as a toilet.
But it does not follow that replacing oysters is a method of filtering bay waters. Stop all damaging materials from entering the bay. Stop overfishing. The oysters will take care of themselves. The fish will multiply. Crabs will become a menace to navigation. We have waterman to save us. But we cannot expect a replenished fishery to control the pollution modern cities are capable of producing.
Apples and oranges, your honor!
Joe