$1.7 million in grant funding allocated to environmental cleanup projects in Maryland

The Maryland Department of the Environment, Chesapeake Bay Trust, along with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott announced $1.7 million in grant funding for 21 environmental projects.

The funding will support projects ranging from trash removal and stormwater management to increasing green spaces in communities affected by past pollution.

"This is environmental justice in action," Maryland Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said. "These actions are about fairness, and people, and prosperity."

The grant funding comes from a settlement of a lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown on behalf of the Department of the Environment, requiring Baltimore City to address unauthorized pollution discharges.

"Communities in Baltimore City and Baltimore County suffered real harm from wastewater pollution, and they suffered alone," Mayor Scott said. 

Local environmental initiatives 

Among the largest grants is $655,363 for the Back River Restoration Committee to design and build a trash wheel on Back River. Other funded initiatives include community cleanups, permeable pavement projects, youth educational programs, and native plantings.

Desiree Greaver, the project manager for the Back River Restoration Committee, called this a big win for the group. 

"Back River has been...the brunt of a lot of ecological, environmental injustice and pollution," Greaver said. 

The Back River Restoration Committee has worked to clean up the waterway for more than a decade. 

"Since 2011, our group has removed over seven and a half mission pounds of trash and debris from Back River and the surrounding areas alone," Greaver said. 

According to Greaver, that work is done by hand. 

"Our system is manual," Greaver said. "So, we actually have people getting in the water, physically removing the trash and we can't rely on that forever. It's not a glamorous job. It's not something that's easy to find help for. So, we were really looking forward to something that is automated."

Other funded initiatives include community cleanups, permeable pavement projects, youth educational programs, and native plantings.

"With these projects, we're creating good-paying jobs, cleaning up trash, improving drainage, planting trees, and establishing new green spaces," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "We aren't just repairing damage; we're building more sustainable neighborhoods."

Other awards include $7,729 for Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Baltimore County to start a water testing and pollution monitoring program on Back River, $154,263 to The 6th Branch, for a program offering interactive workshops to install pollinator gardens at three urban farms, and $222,539 to the Living Classrooms Foundation to install "greening practices" that will improve water in the Lancaster Street canal.

The funding complements Gov. Wes Moore's FY26 budget, which includes over $400 million for wastewater plant upgrades and other Chesapeake Bay-related projects.

Improving Wastewater Treatment

Last October, Baltimore City's Department of Public Works said it was operating at "historic" levels when it comes to wastewater treatment. 

In Tuesday's announcement, officials reported significant improvements at Maryland's two largest wastewater treatment plants, with nitrogen pollution dropping over 60 percent at Back River and 78 percent at Patapsco since 2022.

Mayor Scott also noted phosphorus levels are down more than 80% at both facilities.