A group of Baltimore County preservationists is seeking a Circuit Court injunction to halt an increase of about 400,000 gallons in the effluent discharged into Piney Run each day.
The preservationists want to reverse a decision last month by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) that allows Carroll County to increase the flow of effluent from the Hampstead Wastewater Treatment Plant under a revised permit.
No hearing on the injunction has been scheduled in Baltimore County Circuit Court, said G. Macy Nelson, attorney for the preservationists. The request was filed March 1.
Officials from the Carroll County Department of Public Works could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The revised permit allows for increased flow with strict temperature regulations.
State approval came despite an August order from the Court of Special Appeals directing county officials to test the temperature of the effluent as it flowed downstream into Piney Run. Such testing was never performed, county officials said last month.
"The Court of Special Appeals stated explicitly and precisely what MDE and Carroll County had to do in order to comply with the order," Nelson said. "And they have ignored the order of the court."
The battle over the sewage treatment plant has been raging for years. The plant is in an area of dense development but is also next to Baltimore County's rural homesteads that flank trout-rich Piney Run.
Piney Run flows into Western Run, part of the Gunpowder Falls watershed, which is a source of drinking water for about 1.5 million Baltimore-area residents.
Last year, the state awarded $3 million in Rural Legacy funds to the Piney Run area to preserve its natural beauty.
The plant discharges an average of 545,000 gallons of effluent a day into the stream, Carroll public works officials say.
The August court order rejected a move by the Maryland Department of the Environment to allow an increase to 900,000 gallons a day in sewage discharge.
In an opinion, the court faulted the department for failing to consider water temperature in granting the permit modification.
The matter was remanded to MDE to conduct tests to determine the impact the added discharge would have on water temperatures.
The department announced last month that it would not conduct the tests.
Rather, administrators said, they would force county officials to adhere to "tighter standards" under a new permit, voiding the court's order for temperature tests.
Carroll officials have agreed to install a $1 million refrigeration tank at the plant to cool the treated sewage before it is flushed out.
Pub Date: 3/10/99