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Oct
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Another Way to Clean up the Baltimore Inner Harbor
Posted (Glen) in Downtown on October-22-2007

We all know the Baltimore Harbor is gross - littered with every type of floating trash imaginable, not to mention the occasional floating fish kill. But if you’ve ever been on or near the water just after a heavy rainfall you realize how bad the trash problem really is. I used to get an up-close look at this when I commuted from Fells Point via the Water Taxi.  Trash from every Baltimore street corner, storm drain, and alley flows into the Harbor.  And it’s not just Baltimore City’s trash.  Some trash flows down from Baltimore county via the Jones Falls.  Apparently not much stands in the way of trash as it flows into the Harbor. I always thought there has to be a way for the city to filter/strain the storm drains - and empty them out on a weekly basis.The city currently maintains a ”fleet” - I’m guessing a few at most - of boats that work to pickup trash floating in the Harbor.  But it’s not nearly enough to keep up with the never ending flow of trash.

Well, the Baltimore Sun ran an article today about a new water wheel type filter to be installed at the bottom of the Jones Falls Expressway.

The trash interceptor, which is expected to be in place at the base of the Jones Falls next month, will use the stream’s current to turn a 12-foot water wheel attached to a conveyor belt. Trash will be lifted onto the belt and move about 3 feet per minute toward a nearby trash bin.

Public works crews expect they will need to empty the bin every few days, on average.

I hope it works.  Now all we need is one for every storm drain.

Full article

On a totally unrelated subject - I just saw another one of those annoying attorney Barry Glazer commercials on TV.  You know…. the “Don’t urinate on my leg and tell me it’s raining guy.”  Does anyone else find them as repulsive as me?  What’s wrong with that guy?

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Comments:
Kate on October 23rd, 2007 at 7:22 am #

As Baltimore attracts more tourists, we get more trash. Not to mention indifferent locals or passers-through that think the streets and the harbor are their personal trash cans. It’s great to address the harbor, I just hope they pay attention to the streets as well. As far as Barry Glazer… weird commercials, but I think the “homemade” feel is supposed to appeal to the “every man”. I still don’t think he needs to make that statement. I’d get his point about being a regular guy without being so gross.

Glen on October 24th, 2007 at 6:35 pm #

I watched a grown man walk out of McDonald’s the other day. Take out his sandwich, drop the bag on the street, unwrap his sandwich, drop the wrapper on the street. Without a second though. I don’t get it. And then you have the vast majority of smokers who don’t consider butts trash. I wonder how many thousands of cigarette butts wash into the Harbor every rainfall.

nancy on January 7th, 2008 at 1:25 am #

ok so i’m doing an experiment called group 4 for my IB biology class and i want to do research on how littering affects bodies of water and what more problems it causes to the environment and i want to use the inner harbor as an observation to see how much trash is developed over time about 2 months so what specific area could anyone recommend me to observe?????

Christian Dunn on February 4th, 2008 at 11:30 am #

I still amazes be when I see people intentionally throw trash down the storm drain. They act as if it is better than throwing it on the street. I believe people’s trash habits reflect on their character.

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