Maryland has hundreds of facilities currently polluting our local waterways, endangering public health, local economies and our drinking water. The agency in charge of enforcement – the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) – is critically understaffed and is failing to identify, inspect and enforce against these violations, causing pollution to continue for months or years. We cannot allow these threats to continue.

Urge your Maryland House Delegate to support SB492/HB649 to improve enforcement of clean water permits! SB492 is moving through the Senate with favorable votes and we expect it to pass the Senate soon.

There is a backlog of more than a hundred expired and administratively continued water pollution control permits (“zombie” permits). The legislation sponsored by Senator Paul Pinsky and Delegate Sara Love will address both the significant violations and require MDE to clear the backlog of these “zombie” permits by requiring MDE to inspect facilities with expired permits, as well as those in significant noncompliance on a monthly basis, and if violations continue, fines will kick in. Additionally, MDE would be required to first assess the current need for personnel and then fill these positions within three years. Co-sponsors of the bills include: Senators Guzzone, Elfreth, Lam, Patterson, Rosapepe, and Washington, and Delegates Boyce, Guyton, Lehman, Ruth, Stein, and Stewart.

The number of enforcement actions taken by MDE for the 2021 fiscal year (627) was the lowest in almost two decades, despite the number of violations from these facilities being on the rise. In the past year, there have been a number of high-profile pollution incidents across the state. As an example, the two largest wastewater treatment plants in Baltimore have been illegally discharging millions of gallons of sewage at least since 2017, causing a public health crisis. Just last fall, in St. Mary’s County, 25,000 gallons of untreated sewage overflowed into the St. George Creek, leading to dozens of people contracting food-borne illnesses from tainted oysters. A spokesman for the MDE acknowledged that the agency failed to act promptly after receiving a report of the overflow.

Take action today to demand that Maryland protect our drinking water and public health!