ANNAPOLIS, MD (October 29, 2003) – Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. announced today’s Board of Public Works approval of a $174,000 grant to Baltimore for sewer system improvements in the southwest section of the city.

“This project will restore capacity to the sewer line and begins to address the localized crisis of overflows that plague many of our older communities due to aging infrastructure,” Governor Ehrlich said.

The project involves the rehabilitation of an 8 to 12-inch, roughly 10,000 foot conveyance pipe that runs along Westhills, Briarclift and Franklintown Roads. The sewer line serves residents living in 408,124 homes.

“This undertaking will considerably improve the integrity and efficiency of the sanitary sewer in that area by eliminating inflow and infiltration and pollution to Dead Run, a stream that leads to the Patapsco River,” said Gary Wyatt, P.E., a utility engineering chief with Baltimore’s Department of Public Works.

Funding for the new distribution system will come from the Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) Sewerage Facilities Supplemental Assistance Program. The total cost of the project is more than $1.3 million. Work on the sewer line improvements began this past April and is expected to last for about a year.

MDE's primary mission is to protect and restore the quality of Maryland's air, water, and land resources. The department works to ensure achievement of the state's environmental goals while fostering economic development, safe communities, and environmental education.

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