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stevolutionary7 t1_jdnjtx7 wrote

I didn't get this until I read an article in the Sun, but apparently they want to treat the water at a CleanHarbors facility near the incinerator, then discharge the treated water into the municipal sewer to be treated at Back River.

I would like to know what chemicals need to be removed, how they plan to do it, what the acceptable concentration of effluent is from their treatment and how that will be confirmed. I'm actually less concerned knowing that it's a private, well known wastewater remediator doing this than wastewater treatment plant.

In addition, the explosion and fire last week has nothing to do with the treatment plant- that was a separate company that takes biosolids (which would otherwise have to be landfilled) and makes fertilizer pellets. The appropriate state and federal agencies will find out what they did wrong. The only thing Back River and this other company have in common is the byproduct of the first is an input for the second.

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Animanialmanac OP t1_jdnl9if wrote

Those are good questions about what chemicals need to be removed and how they will do that.

I hope the state will have an open forum before they move forward for people to hear the answers. I’m glad the Baltimore County delegates are trying to stop it until more information is available n

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baller410610 t1_jdny8fi wrote

They do this all the time with all kinds of contaminated water at that facility.

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stevolutionary7 t1_jdo2ohd wrote

I figured. Until the Sun article it wasn't clear that CleanHarbors was doing the work.

They probably have a discharge permit for the sanitary sewer which lists the allowable limits of their effluent. The only thing special about this is the source of the contaminated water.

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PleaseBmoreCharming t1_jdnl0fz wrote

Thank you for the rational reply with more information. The sheer mass panic that is expressed over the past day or so on here is a bit much, although skepticism and the desire for more information is indeed warranted. Let's ask more questions and get to the bottom whether this is indeed safe. I can't see the EPA making this decision and risking ANOTHER ecological disaster that has the potential to impact a major metro area and the largest estuary in the United States.

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bryan_jenkins t1_jdnoulk wrote

You can't?

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PleaseBmoreCharming t1_jdnp49i wrote

No, I can't.

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EthanSayfo t1_jdohp7s wrote

The EPA was eviscerated during the Trump admin, and was literally turned into an anti-environmental regulation agency.

It's not as easy to put something back together as it is to break it. We have no real reason to trust the viability of the EPA in carrying out its mission at this point.

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jabbadarth t1_jdnt7a6 wrote

Doesn't help that one of the articles was titled "Ohio wastewater is coming to baltimore". While that's technically true it made it sound like it was flowing in a river or leaching into groundwater.

How hard would it have been to say Ohio wastewater being shipped to Baltimore for treatment.

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