Bob Long prefiles Back River wastewater plant legislation as odor complaints keep growing
BALTIMORE —
One local lawmaker is hoping to implement laws regarding regulations and mandates for the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“I’ve actually been working on legislation that we’re going to prefile to deal with the odors down there,” said Delegate Bob Long, a Republican who represents District 6.
He told WBAL-TV 11 News the legislation, the Maryland Wastewater Odor Accountability Act, would require “certain things to be done as far as putting controls out.”
The bill was filed on Tuesday in anticipation of the legislative session that starts next year and seeks to respond to the sewage odor believed to be coming from the plant.
If the bill were to go through the session and get signed into law, it would require comprehensive odor-control plans, continuous monitoring and independent testing.
It would also mandate response times for complaints, corrective action plans and ensure monitoring results are public.
“(DPW) isn’t sure where the smell (is) coming from and they said it could possibly be coming from Back River low tide and this is the kind of stuff we get all the time and I’m tired of getting BS’d all the time,” said Long. “We’ve been dealing with this for probably fifty years or better and it’s progressively gotten worse and I think they’re just taking advantage of us. They have the capability, they have the technology to take odor control, that’s what they need to do.”
WBAL-TV 11 News toured the plant last week to receive an up-close look at the measures in place.
Baltimore City Department of Public Works runs the plant and said they are continuing to assemble a comprehensive odor-control plan.
The DPW also added engineering firms are both on-site and off-site conducting assessments to try and pinpoint where the odor stench is coming from.
They expect results and findings from those assessments, regarding the odor, by early January.
“I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in the engineers just because of what they told us before. They said the smell is coming from Back River low tide, I’m sorry it’s not. I know what the smell of poop is,” Long said. “It’s not rocket science, just deal with the smell.”
Long would need to win his reelection race to officially introduce the legislation in January during the 2027 legislative session.
He told WBAL-TV 11 News that if he does not get re-elected, he would pass the proposed bill off to a fellow lawmaker to introduce.
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