Author: villageofvioletville

Hello,

Jennifer from Clean Water Action here, with news from the listening session on sewage backups last Monday night! Dozens of people showed up to talk about the severe sewage backups that people all across the city have experienced, and the problems with the Expedited Reimbursement Program that are stopping it from actually providing assistance to Baltimore residents (outlined on our blog here). At one time during the meeting, a speaker asked if anyone had been able to successfully receive reimbursement through the Expedited Reimbursement Program, and no one raised their hands. That, as well as the stories shared on Monday and the data that’s been released to the public, shows that this program needs major changes to actually help people who have sewage backups.

For more about the hearing on Monday, please listen to this piece on WYPR and read this blog post by CWA’s intern who attended!

It’s not too late to let MDE know how you feel about sewage backups! They are accepting written comments by email until next Friday, October 11; and at the listening session, Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles said that they will use these comments to evaluate the city’s response to sewage backups and release a report on it to the public. Your story, if you have experienced a sewage backup, and your recommendations, even if you haven’t, will be very important to help MDE come to a meaningful conclusion! Please click here to submit your comment to MDE, or you can email MDE directly at Expedited.ReimbursementProgram@maryland.gov.

Thank you,

Jennifer Kunze
Maryland Program Manager
Clean Water Action
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