BALTIMORE — Wastewater from the disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is coming to Maryland, the City and County of Baltimore announced Friday.
"The Baltimore City Department of Public Works was notified by Clean Harbors Environmental Services that it was selected by the EPA to accept, treat, and discharge the wastewater collected from rainwater, collected water, and stream water above and below the cleanup site of the Norfolk Southern Railroad derailment in East Palestine, OH that occurred on February 3, 2023," Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in a statement. "Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant is one of a number of facilities in locations around the country selected to process this material."
Two Maryland state delegates are voicing opposition to the plan.
Dels. Ryan Nawrocki (R) and Kathy Szeliga (R) represent Baltimore County in the House of Delegates.
“There is no amount of money that could possibly pay to process the toxic cleanup waste from the chemical disaster in Ohio,” Szeliga said in a press release.
Nawrocki said the treatment plant selected to treat the water has had issues in the past.
“As a member of the Environment and Transportation Committee, I have heard countless hours of testimony regarding the continual failures at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Dundalk. This treatment plant has a history of sewage overflows. They certainly should not be trusted to process toxic waste into Maryland’s greatest natural resource,” Nawrocki said.
A joint statement from the city and county said they are "seeking a legal opinion from the Attorney General's Office regarding the City's requirement to treat and discharge the waste from the Norfolk Southern Railroad derailment at Back River."
