Baltimore Lawmakers Unite To Stop Biden’s EPA From Sending Toxic Ohio Train Waste To Facility

Baltimore Democrats are furious over the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to transport toxic water from East Palestine, Ohio, to a water treatment facility in Baltimore County.

On Monday morning, Baltimore City Councilman Zeke Cohen (D-1) called on the EPA to reverse its decision to transport 675,000 gallons of toxic water to the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant for the treatment and eventual discharge into the local water system. 

Cohen stated: 

“Too many neighborhoods in Baltimore are already overburdened with pollution, we are at a tipping point for the health of the Chesapeake Bay, and our City’s trust in the Back River facility’s ability to process this water was shaken by the March 15 explosion. 

“Under the Biden Administration, the EPA has rightfully committed itself to environmental justice. Now is their chance to prove that commitment by rescinding approval of this plan,” Cohen wrote in a statement. 

Today I’ll introduce a resolution calling on the EPA to reverse its decision to send contaminated water from East Palestine to Baltimore.

We should not be a dumping ground for toxic sludge. pic.twitter.com/JzYauhvDr7

— Zeke Cohen (@Zeke_Cohen) March 27, 2023

At last, city Democrats and county Republicans have found common ground on an issue:

“As a member of the Environment and Transportation Committee, I have heard countless hours of testimony regarding the continual failures at the Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Dundalk.

“This treatment plant has a history of sewage overflows. They certainly should not be trusted to process toxic waste into Maryland’s greatest natural resource,” Baltimore County delegates Kathy Szeliga (R) and Ryan Nawrocki (R) said in a joint statement over the weekend. 

Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen also said he is concerned with the Biden EPA’s plan to process toxic chemicals so close to the Chesapeake Bay. 

Last week, EPA administrator Michael Regan said it was “impermissible and … unacceptable” for states to block shipments of the toxic chemicals.