City of Baltimore - File #: 19-0159R

• File #: 19-0159R
• Version: 0
• Name: Investigative Hearing - Building Backups of Untreated Sewage
• Type: City Council Resolution
• Status: Failed - End of Term
• File created: 8/19/2019
• In control: Land Use Committee
• Final action: 12/7/2020
• Title: Investigative Hearing - Building Backups of Untreated Sewage For the purpose of inviting representatives from the Department of Public Works, Law Department, Office of Information and Technology, Health Department, Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management to appear before the City Council to discuss the effectiveness and sufficiency of measures being taken to address basement backups of raw sewage in the City.
• Sponsors: Kristerfer Burnett, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, Zeke Cohen, Danielle McCray, Ryan Dorsey, Bill Henry, Sharon Green Middleton, Leon F. Pinkett, III, John T. Bullock, Eric T. Costello, Mary Pat Clarke, Robert Stokes, Sr., Shannon Sneed, Edward Reisinger
• Indexes: Building, Investigative Hearing, sewage

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
12/7/2020	0	City Council	Failed - End of Term
6/22/2020	0	Land Use Committee	Scheduled for a Public Hearing
3/9/2020	0	Land Use Committee	Scheduled for a Public Hearing
10/7/2019	0	Land Use Committee	Scheduled for a Public Hearing
8/22/2019	0	The City Council	Refer to Mayor's Office of Emergency Management
8/22/2019	0	The City Council	Refer to Dept. of Finance
8/22/2019	0	The City Council	Refer to Dept. of Health
8/22/2019	0	The City Council	Refer to City Solicitor
8/22/2019	0	The City Council	Refer to Dept. of Public Works
8/19/2019	0	City Council	Assigned
8/19/2019	0	City Council	Introduced

* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*

City of Baltimore
Council Bill R
(Resolution)

Introduced by: Councilmember Burnett

A Resolution Entitled

A Council Resolution concerning
title
Investigative Hearing - Building Backups of Untreated Sewage
For the purpose of inviting representatives from the Department of Public Works, Law Department, Office of Information and Technology, Health Department, Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management to appear before the City Council to discuss the effectiveness and sufficiency of measures being taken to address basement backups of raw sewage in the City.
body

Recitals

Exposure to raw sewage poses a serious risk to human health. Raw sewage contains a variety of microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, and parasites that can cause serious illnesses including cholera, hepatitis, cryptosporidiosis, and giardiasis. In addition, moisture in homes, including moisture from sewage backups, can cause the growth of toxic fungi and mold.

In 2002, Baltimore City entered into a Consent Decree with the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (“MDE”) to address violations of the federal Clean Water Act from discharges of untreated sewage from Baltimore's collection system into the Back River, Patapsco River, the Chesapeake Bay, and other waters of the United States.

Under the 2002 Consent Decree, Baltimore’s Department of Public Works (“DPW”) was required to conduct a thorough investigation of its wastewater collection system and undertake certain systematic and operational improvements to eliminate sanitary sewer ov...