Legislation aims to address decades-long sewage odor problem near Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. — The smell of sewage around the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant has been a problem for decades in eastern Baltimore County, and a state lawmaker is now filing legislation to address it.

Baltimore City operates the plant, which sits just south of the Back River between Dundalk and Essex.

State Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, a Republican who represents the area, is introducing the legislation.

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"We need to make sure that we can control this. It is an issue. It is a problem, but we need to get good legislation," Salling said.

The legislation includes a study with a prevention plan and will be officially introduced in the legislative session set to begin in 2027.

"I think it's going to take some time. As I stated, this has been a problem for decades now. I think it's not just one problem, it's many problems," Salling said.

Sam Weaver, of the Maryland Waterways Foundation, said the odor is nothing new to residents in the area.

"For the last 70 years I've smelled it. I just can't believe they haven't done anything about it. I mean, everybody blames the river, but it's not the river," Weaver said.

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Weaver said there has been fatigue from years of complaints, with people growing numb to the issue.

"I think that's part of the problem is that, you know, we've all complained about it for so long, and we've had deaf ears," Weaver said.

Baltimore City declined a request for an interview, saying their subject matter expert is out of the office this week.

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