At its first annual public meeting to discuss the City’s Modified Consent Decree for the sewer collection system, the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) will provide citizens with an opportunity to speak with the experts working to eliminate sewer overflows. The meeting will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, at the Maryland Department of the Environment headquarters, 1800 Washington Blvd. in Baltimore.

DPW Director Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., will welcome citizens to this meeting, which is open to the public. And DPW Chief of Legal and Regulatory Affairs Paul De Santis will provide an overview of the City’s progress under the modified consent decree. After this presentation, residents will have an opportunity to visit learning stations to speak directly with the environmental and engineering experts implementing aspects of the sanitary consent decree.

The topics covered at the learning stations will include preventive maintenance programs, the $430 million Headworks Project, future plans for enlarging selected sewer mains, and steps that citizens can take to keep the City’s sewer lines free of fats, oils and grease (FOG) and non-flushable items.

The City’ initial Consent Decree expired on Jan. 31, 2016. Following extensive discussions with state and federal regulators, an extended public comment period, and additional months of negotiations, the Modified Consent Decree was entered in U.S. District Court on Oct. 6, 2017. The annual public meeting is a requirement of the Modified Consent Decree.

The information presented at the meeting, as well as public comment collected during and after the meeting, will be made available on the DPW Sanitary Sewer Consent Decree webpage.
Baltimore citizens and others interested in learning about the Modified Consent Decree may visit the DPW website: publicworks.baltimorecity.gov/sewer-consent-decree. Visitors to that page may also sign up for email notifications of important developments in the course of the Consent Decree.