Baltimore Sewer Backup Assistance Programs Stall

Baltimore residents are left unable to access a program meant to assist them with the cleanup from sewage backups, reports Aman Azhar for Inside Climate News.

As Azhar explains, “Baltimore City runs two cleanup programs aimed at providing relief to homeowners, tenants and property managers dealing with sewage backup entering their homes due to wet weather conditions and clogged public pipes.” Now, a dispute between the city and the EPA has stalled the programs.

According to Baltimore DPW Director Richard Luna, the department rejected all 23 applications for funds under the Expedited Reimbursement Program in 2023 and approved 3 out of 33 applications in 2024. “Under the SOS program, Luna said, around $77,000 was given to 11 households in 2023 and four households properties received nearly $44,000 in 2024.”

“A 2019 study documented a number of diseases linked to fecal matter in Baltimore wastewater, which often inundated residents’ homes and basements as a result of a sewage backup. Raw sewage can be especially harmful when residents are forced to undertake the cleanup themselves because it contains pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, the study said.” Meanwhile, climate change is causing more frequent and severe storms that cause sewer overflows, the report warns.