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Published
08/15/10
Last June, contractors working on a gas pipeline in Linthicum made a startling discovery: A 12-inch-wide sewer pipe was broken in two places, spewing raw sewage into a remote stream that meanders through the woods. 
By Paul W. Gillespie — The Capital
When sewage spills into creeks and rivers, health officials post bright yellow warning signs urging people to stay out of the water, such as this one posted earlier this month at the end of Dividing Creek Road, near a 15,000-gallon spill from an old pipe that broke. There were 48 sewage spills in Anne Arundel County in 2009, including 24 that were the responsibility of the county’s Department of Public Works. The other spills were the responsibility of the City of Annapolis, the Army, the Navy, Patuxent Mobile Estates and the Maryland Environmental Service.Find Us On Facebook
They notified the county Department of Public Works, which quickly dispatched crews to stop the leak. By the time it was stopped, 160,000 gallons of smelly, filthy, bacteria-filled sewage had spilled into Stoney Run, which flows into the Patapsco River and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay. It was the worst sewage spill in the county last year. The county government's fine for the spill: $1,000. In...
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Point all the fingers - 2010-08-16 10:21:46
Thanks for article. We don't need fines we need action, comprehensive management of the system, periodic inspection, analysis of monitoring systems. Cameras in the pump stations cheap and effective. Cypress pump station; primary failed and the backup failed no monitoring. Most recent leaks were discovered by chance. Second pump station (round bay?) north of Cypress failed while contractor was 'updating' College Parkway Station failed twice in last 4 years. The results MILLIONS of gallons of raw sewage into three creeks. I laughed at the 'big issue' (stink) over boat holding tanks. Compared to system failure boat waste is a drop in the bucket. Sewer is infrastructure, it's a public safety issue, it has to be addressed. Our rivers are comparable to soiled toilets. How bad does it have to become? Tonight the Council will be reviewing a request for massive development on Broadneck. Are we going to hook up hundreds of homes to a failing system. The Council needs to revisit the '6 years and you get to build' regardless of infrastructure, that is unless 'asinine' has replaced 'comprehensive' in planning.
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harry trampolini - severna park, MD - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
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Sickening - 2010-08-15 13:09:01
Let's hope Allegany Co. faces a more stringent fine structure than that established for Anne Arundel County. Fifty-two million gallons sounds like an ongoing problem and could amount to little more than a $1000 fine??
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Fed Up - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
Report Abuse or Vote In order to allow the user community the ability to collectively rank the value of comments posted on the Capital Gazette websites we have implemented a thumbs-up/down system. All logged-in users may participate by voting up/down each comment. If others vote on your comment, your individual score will go up/down depending on the votes. Initially, everyone starts with a score of zero, and must earn credits to have significant voting weight. Individuals with higher scores will have more voting weight. 0
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Allegany County - 2010-08-15 12:35:16
What happened in Allegany County? They have 10% of the population that Baltimore County has, yet they have spilled nearly twice as much sewage. Was that one particular disaster or do they just flush their toilets directly into the Potomac?
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Larry Walker - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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