Patapsco Sewage Flow Halts Shellfish Harvesting

Due to the into the Patapsco River, the Maryland Department of the Environment on March 28 closed the mouth of the Patapsco and a nearby portion of the Chesapeake Bay to shellfish harvesting.

The closure will remain in effect until further notice, according to state officials.

The closure was issued because of a sewage spill from a ruptured 54-inch pipe at the Patapsco Sewage Pumping Station in Baltimore Highlands that began on Mar. 25.

Health officials in Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County issued notices regarding water contact for a portion of the Patapsco River.

MDE determined that an area in the mouth of the Patapsco River and a nearby portion of the Chesapeake Bay normally open to shellfish harvesting will be closed.

The affected area is downstream of a line running northeasterly from Rock Point to North Point and west of a line running southeasterly from North Point to the Brewerton Eastern Extension Lighted Buoy 10, and then to Seven Foot Knoll Light, to Craighill Channel Lighted Buoy 18, southwesterly to Craighill Channel Lighted Buoy 16, east to the Craighhill Entrance Channel Range Rear Light then continuing east to a point of land near Shore End Downs Fishing Pier south of Pinehurst on the Anne Arundel County shore.

Other areas of the Patapsco River—including the area where sewage has entered the waterway this week—have been closed to harvesting since the 1960s, according to state officials.