Anglers are concerned that discharges will make Piney Run and Deep Run too hot for the fish
By Timothy B. Wheeler, Bay Journal
Gunpowder Riverkeeper Theaux Le Gardeur examines a hellgrammite, or Dobsonfly larva, on a rock from Deep Run as lawyer Patrick DeArmey looks on. (Dave Harp)
Gunpowder Riverkeeper Theaux Le Gardeur examines a hellgrammite, or Dobsonfly larva, on a rock from Deep Run as lawyer Patrick DeArmey looks on. (Dave Harp)
Trout are among the most highly prized of freshwater fish; their presence in a stream is a sign that the water is clean, cold and rich in all the things fish need to survive, grow and reproduce.
So, perhaps it's no surprise that these pollution-sensitive fish are at the center of a debate in Maryland about how best to sustain them amid the sprawling development that threatens their survival in the central part of the state.
Carroll County plans to upgrade an aging, poorly performing sewage treatment plant serving the town of Hampstead in the northwestern suburbs of Baltimore. In an effort to reduce pollution to Piney Run, a trout stream into which the plant discharges, the county wants to split the wastewater flow and pipe a portion over to another stream.
But the other stream, Deep Run, also has trout. Now there's a dispute over how much protection each stream should receive.
Anglers, environmental groups and at least one streamside landowner are voicing concern about the state Department of the Environment's tentative decision to permit the Hampstead plant to discharge into both streams. They say they're worried that the treated wastewater, particularly its temperature, may make the streams untenable for the brown trout found in each.
"See this big mayfly (nymph)?" asked Theaux Le Gardeur, the Gunpowder Riverkeeper, as he picked up a rock from a clear, fast-flowing stretch of Deep Run. A dark, cricket-like bug — choice trout food — clung to the bottom. "If that water warms up, he's not going to be here."
County officials counter that their plan poses no threat to the trout, and that both streams' water quality should improve as a result.
"We have voluntarily agreed to do some actions we think will help mitigate any temperature concerns people have," said Tom Devilbiss, Carroll's director of land and resource management.
The Hampstead wastewater plant discharges about 550,000 gallons of treated sewage daily into Piney Run, a branch of the Gunpowder River watershed that ultimately flows into Loch Raven reservoir, part of the Baltimore area's drinking water supply.
The plant has violated the pollution limits in its discharge permit in 11 of the last 12 quarters, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ECHO compliance database. Patrick DeArmey, a lawyer for the Gunpowder Riverkeeper, one of the groups opposing the county's plan, said the plant racked up 50 violations last year alone. Over at least the last three years, he added, it has been discharging excessive phosphorous, nitrogen and total suspended solids, among other pollutants.
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