Commentary by Gerald Winegrad:

In politics, as in life, there is nothing more abhorrent to me than hypocrisy. The colossal outrage expressed by Baltimore City and County elected officials, joined by state and federal counterparts, against the proper treatment of wastewater from the Feb. 3 Ohio train wreck by Clean Harbors of Baltimore reeks of extreme hypocrisy.

Clean Harbors was set to treat 675,000 gallons of wastewater collected from the cleanup site. It was then to pass through the Back River wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Dundalk owned by Baltimore City. The major chemical of concern is vinyl chloride, one of many volatile organic chemicals.

The proposed treatment would remove nearly all of the chemicals including polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) through a carbon adsorption process followed by inorganic metal removal. This would leave the wastewater at no more than 4 parts per trillion vinyl chloride which is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required level for drinking water.

Vinyl chloride is a colorless, flammable gas that evaporates quickly. Human exposure should be avoided or at least reduced to extremely low levels to avoid health effects. This compound is widely used for such products as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes, wire coatings, vehicle upholstery and plastic kitchen ware. PVC pipes are long lasting and widely used in plumbing, conveying sewage and drinking water, and in drainage and irrigation systems. Higher than normal levels can be present inside new cars from vinyl products.

According to EPA experts, “The waste from the site has been subject to more testing and analysis, with more characterization, than many other, similar wastes regularly accepted at facilities nationwide. States have no basis to prevent receipt of out-of-state waste from East Palestine, particularly while allowing similar wastes to be disposed in their states.”

Gov. Wes Moore agreed: “The water from East Palestine being treated by Clean Harbors is not at levels that would be considered hazardous waste but out of an abundance of caution, the state is treating it as such to ensure our communities are safe. Clean Harbors is a world-class facility in Baltimore, and they are well-equipped to handle this project.”

Succumbing to the outrage over this shipment, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott denied the treated wastewater access into the Back River WWTP. Clean Harbors then ended its treatment plans. State and local legislators and environmental groups weighed in declaring victory. So where is the hypocrisy in all of this?

Scott, City Council members and state legislators allowed the operation, maintenance and proper staffing of the Back River WWTP to collapse so as to endanger the public health and the Chesapeake Bay in flagrant violation of federal and state Clean Water Acts. This is the largest WWTP in Maryland and discharges about 120 million gallons of wastewater daily, more than twice as much as any other Maryland plant. By comparison, the Annapolis WWTP discharges 9 million gallons a day and, as with seven other large WWTPs in the county, they meet strict discharge limits for nutrients and chemicals.

One year ago, the state’s Maryland Environmental Service took over operation of the Back River plant after years of extensive violations of its discharge permit. This extraordinary takeover was only after the city failed to comply with an order to cease all illegal pollutant discharges.

Baltimore sued to block the state’s takeover, but dropped the suit after a detailed MES report documented “a system-wide catastrophic failure to operate and maintain this facility at every level risking catastrophic failures at the plant resulting in an unacceptable threat of environmental harm as well as adverse public health effects.” Raw sewerage was repeatedly being discharged with bacteria, many chemicals, and nutrients untreated, including banned cancer-causing PCBs.

This misfeasance comes after Baltimore received $347 million of state Flush Tax money to upgrade the Back River WWTP to remove nutrients, a key necessity for bay restoration. Another $430 million project enabled wastewater storage in underground tanks to prevent recurring raw sewage backups into homes and businesses. Baltimore also received $347,000 for Operation & Maintenance from the Flush Tax. Despite this major funding, city leadership failed horribly in assuring proper operation and maintenance forcing the state to take over operation of the facility.

Can it get worse? On March 15, an explosion ripped holes in three walls at the plant and ignited a two-alarm fire. Seven workers were evacuated with no injuries reported. The building was used to heat and dry biosolids from the treatment process into pellets used as a farm fertilizer. Synagro, a city contractor, operates the biosolid facility. There were 12,000 gallons of thermal oil used in its process that had to be burned off.

The state is running the plant through April 30 but this could be extended as tons of sludge will need to be processed another way. Such sludge buildups contributed to the plant’s pollution violations over the years and continuing mechanical and equipment problems might affect proper treatment.

The hypocrisy deepens with Baltimore’s 56 million-gallon-a-day Patapsco WWTP’s systemic failures and Clean Water Act violations mirroring those documented at Back River. Dangerous chemicals, including PCBs, are discharged above legal requirements. Volatile hydrocarbons are turning up in the facility’s backed-up sewage sludge that pose a safety threat to workers. Because of the fire hazard and potential explosions as the sludge is heated, this process has been shut down as sewerage solids back up at an alarming rate.

A Maryland Department of Environment June inspection documented a continued failure to properly treat and dispose of human waste and the release of high levels of nitrogen and illegal pollutants into the Patapsco River. Baltimore received $159 million in Flush Taxes to upgrade the facility for nitrogen and phosphorus removal but is failing to meet ordered reductions. The inspection report found that the plant’s nitrogen filters “are being completely bypassed in the treatment process.” The system is so clogged with sludge that it has been rendered totally dysfunctional. Fats, oil, and grease are clogging the treatment mechanisms and making their way into the Patapsco.

Chesapeake Legal Alliance and Blue Water Baltimore want the state to take over management from Baltimore as at Back River. In June, the group filed a federal lawsuit against the city. Also in June, the state filed a lawsuit against Baltimore over raw sewage discharges by the Baltimore plants.

This hypocrisy helps displace focus on real wastewater problems, providing cover for elected officials as supposed leaders, including the mayor, cry wolf and block the discharge of 675,000 gallons of thoroughly treated wastewater. In stopping the Clean Harbors plan, Scott said he is committed to protect residents at all costs despite allowing the discharge of 64 billion gallons of wastewater a year that is poorly treated allowing cancer-causing banned PCBs, hydrocarbons, acetone, bacteria, and millions of gallons of excess nitrogen and phosphorus to poison the bay from these WWTPs. Back River is so polluted it is off limits for swimming.

My hope is that such hypocrisy will be replaced by courage and responsibility focused on cleaning up billions of gallons of polluting wastewater discharged from these plants annually.

Gerald Winegrad represented the greater Annapolis area as a Democrat in the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate for 16 years. Contact him at gwwabc@comcast.net.