By Leslie Smith | Staff Editor

May 10, 2024

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Imagine rain falling on a scrapyard full of rusting metal and auto parts. If you lived near this scrapyard, would you worry about chemicals and heavy metals getting washed into your neighborhood and waterways? Unfortunately, many Baltimore, Maryland residents live with this reality every rainy day. Per Maryland and federal law, industrial sites like landfills, scrapyards, and salvage yards must obtain a stormwater permit and implement control mechanisms to prevent the discharge of pollutants from these sites into surrounding areas.[1] This permit is called the General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities (“Industrial Stormwater General Permit”).[2] However, this permit falls short of its intended objectives due to lack of enforcement and defects in the permit itself, both of which exacerbate environmental justice issues in Baltimore.

Baltimore bears the brunt of Maryland’s industrial activities, hosting a significant portion of the state’s industrial facilities. Baltimore City and Baltimore County contain a third of all of Maryland’s industrial facilities subject to the Industrial Stormwater General Permit (about 300 facilities total).[3] Forty percent of these facilities are in communities that are majority low-income and nonwhite, compounding existing pollution burdens.[4] Geospatial analysis of Baltimore City reveals that most of Southwest Baltimore and Eastern Baltimore are situated within a quarter-mile radius of industrial zones, exposing thousand of homes to continuous untreated toxic substances.[5]

Proximity to industrial facilities has been linked to a variety of health problems. Studies link deteriorated stormwater quality to short-term and long-term illnesses resulting from exposure through drinking water, seafood consumption, and recreational activities involving contact with contaminated water.[6] For example, lead, a common pollutant at electronic scrap recycling facilities, has been shown to cause fatigue, headaches, memory loss, and other symptoms in adults, and permanent brain and nervous system damage in children.[7]

To safeguard public health and the environment, the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that polluting entities obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit before they can discharge point source stormwater. [8]  Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE) administers the NPDES permit program in Maryland.[9] Industrial facilities with an Industrial Stormwater General Permit must follow the permit’s conditions to reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges, such as by implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs).[10] BMPs include treating stormwater to remove pollutants through filtration devices, or minimizing exposure of pollutant sources to rainfall, such as by using tarps.[11]

However, compliance with and enforcement of the Industrial Stormwater General Permit is dismal. A survey of Maryland stormwater facilities that spanned 2017 to 2020 found that only 24% of industrial stormwater permittees fully complied with the permit.[12] About half of these facilities were repeat offenders, meaning they were found to be noncompliant multiple times.[13] The greatest concentration of repeat offenders was located in communities with a majority black population: Prince George’s County and Baltimore City.[14] Though the MDE found noncompliance of the permit in over 1,300 inspections, the department brought formal enforcement actions against only 14 of these facilities.[15] Given the quantity of permittees in marginalized communities, this lack of enforcement adds to Baltimore’s environmental justice issues.

Maryland must better enforce the Industrial Stormwater General Permit to protect Baltimore’s communities. It must also revise the permit to encourage better compliance. Notably, Maryland should increase penalties for industrial facilities that are repeat offenders. Maryland should exclude repeat offenders from coverage under the general permit, requiring them to go through the individual permit process instead. Because the individual permit process is more laborious, time intensive, and expensive, this new policy will serve as an incentive for operators to comply with their general permits.[16] By imposing stricter penalties for non-compliance, Maryland can start to mitigate the adverse impacts of industrial stormwater pollution on marginalized communities. Concerted efforts to hold industrial facilities accountable and prioritize environmental justice are crucial for Baltimore’s residents to live in healthy, pollution-free neighborhoods.

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[1] See generally Md. Dep’t Env’t, General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities, Discharge Permit No. 20-SW, NPDES Permit No. MDR0000 (2023).

[2] Id. at 1.

[3]  Chesapeake Accountability Project, Comment Letter on Remand of General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities – 20-SW / MDR000 (Nov. 25, 2023).

[4] Paul Hlavinka, Permit Modification Fact Sheet for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities Discharge Permit Number 12-SW-A, NPDES Permit Number MDR00, at 2 (2018) https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Permits/WaterManagementPermits/Documents/GDP%20Stormwater/Modification%20A%20(2018)/12SW%20ModA%20FactSheet.pdf; Chesapeake Accountability Project, Comment Letter on Tentative Determination Renewal of the General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities – 20-SW / MDR000, at 38-39 (Apr. 14, 2021) https://chesapeakeaccountability.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2021-04/cap-20sw-comment-ltr-final-w-appendices-041621.pdf; see MDE EJ Screening Tool Version 2.0 Beta, https://mdewin64.mde.state.md.us/EJ/ (last visited Apr. 26, 2024); Overall Climate Vulnerability: Baltimore City Maryland, The U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index, https://map.climatevulnerabilityindex.org/map/cvi_overall/baltimore-city-maryland?mapBoundaries=County&mapFilter=0&reportBoundaries=County&geoContext=State (last visited Apr. 26, 2024).

[5] See Chesapeake Accountability Project, Comment Letter on Remand of General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities – 20-SW / MDR000, at Exhibit C (Nov. 25, 2023).

[6] Maryam Salehi et al., An Investigation of Stormwater Quality Variation Within an Industry Sector Using the Self-Reported Data Collected Under the Stormwater Monitoring Program, 12 Water 3185, 3185 (2020).

[7] Diana Ceballos et al., Metal Exposures at Three U.S. Electronic Scrap Recycling Facilities, 14 J Occupational & Env’t Hygiene 401, 401–408 (2017); Diana Ceballos et al., A Pilot Assessment of Occupational Health Hazards in the US Electronic Scrap Recycling Industry, 12 J Occupational & Env’t Hygiene 482, 482–88 (2017); Information for Workers, CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/workerinfo.html (last visited Apr. 26, 2024).

[8] 33 U.S.C. § 1342.

[9] Maryland NPDES Permits, U.S. EPA, https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/maryland-npdes-permits (last updated Jan. 3, 2023).

[10] See  Md. Dep’t Env’t, General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities, Discharge Permit No. 20-SW, NPDES Permit No. MDR0000, at 13–15 (2023).

[11] U.S. EPA Off. of Water, Industrial Stormwater Fact Sheet Series, at 3, https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/sector_y_rubberplastic.pdf.

[12] Letter from Chesapeake Accountability Project, Priorities and Concerns with Enforcement of the Maryland General Permit for Discharges from Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activities (July 19, 2021), https://chesapeakeaccountability.org/sites/default/files/attachments/2021-07/mde-isw-permit-enforcement-concerns-ltr-071921.pdf.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Maryland Department of the Environment: NPDES Industrial & General Surface Water Discharge Permits, Maryland.gov, https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/water/wwp/Pages/IndustrialSurfaceDischargePermits.aspx (last visited Apr. 26, 2024).