October 12, 2008
Watchdog
Accidental river floods city park path
Work has begun to fix a broken pipe near the dam at Robert E. Lee Park. (Sun photo bty Kim Hairston / July 3, 2008)
THE PROBLEM // A broken pipe in Robert E. Lee Park caused water to pour down a path for more than a week.
THE BACKSTORY // Daniel Pugatsky, who walks his dog in Robert E. Lee Park, noticed water pouring out of a crack in a path just past the footbridge near the dam.
The Pikesville resident talked to friends who go there daily and learned it had been draining that way for at least three to four days. In late June, he called Baltimore's 311 system from the park to report the problem.
"I said, 'Well, if nobody's fixing it, then maybe nobody knows about it,'" Pugatsky said.
An orange cone was placed at the site a few days later, but the water continued to run, he said.
"I figured ... it's probably not a good idea to have an enormous river-size breakage," said Pugatsky, who called Watchdog about five days after calling 311.
The orange cone was still there July 1, Watchdog observed, but a stream of water continued to flow out of a crack in the path and down the asphalt. Water bubbled up under the pavement and down the embankment on both sides of the path.
Although in Baltimore County, Robert E. Lee Park includes Lake Roland, a city reservoir that was part of Baltimore's municipal water system in the 1800s, according to the Maryland Historical Trust. Today, the lake, its dam and other historic structures are part of the city parks system.
Watchdog contacted the city's departments of Public Works and Recreation and Parks last week to find out what happened.
Parks department spokeswoman Kia McLeod said the agency first learned about the problem July 1. According to the Department of Public Works, a pipe that feeds the restrooms was leaking.
She said the pipe needed to be replaced and the repair likely would be completed early this week.
Robert E. Lee Park is part of the Druid Hill Park division and is inspected monthly, McLeod wrote in an e-mail. No problems were detected during the last check June 16, she said. McLeod said the 311 call was reported to the Department of Public Works by June 30 and then forwarded to Recreation and Parks.
WHO CAN FIX THIS // John Lomax-Bey, acting park manager, Druid Hill Division. 410-396-6107. City residents can also call 311 to report problems.
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