After EPA order, Baltimore says it will finish reservoir projects by the end of the year

Baltimore officials will complete two delayed projects to install underground storage tanks for treated drinking water by the end of the year, city officials said Thursday, just days after the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued an order to do so.

The projects, at Druid Lake and Lake Ashburton, will replace the uncovered reservoirs with massive tanks to protect the water from contaminants, including bird droppings, runoff and trash.

Blair Adams, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Works, said in an emailed statement Thursday the city plans to meet the end-of-year deadline.

"We are eager to begin functional and operational use of both projects by December 30, 2023, barring unforeseen delays," she said. "Going into 2024, the remaining site work, such as park amenities, clean up, etc., will finish in early-mid 2024."

Federal regulations, put forward in 2006, required localities with uncovered storage areas for treated drinking water to have an approved plan in place by April 2009 to either cover the reservoirs or treat that water for particular contaminants before distribution to customers.

The two Baltimore projects have repeatedly missed federal deadlines for completion.

The EPA sent an order to the city Monday calling for Baltimore to have the tanks online at Ashburton by Nov. 30 and at Druid by Dec. 30.

Karen Melvin, director of the Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division for the EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region, said it was time to "really start holding their feet to the fire" after years of discussions with Baltimore.

"We were trying to work with the city. There was a lot of issues associated with funding," Melvin told The Sun. "But, you know, we finally realized that we really needed to get them to commit to a specific deadline."

Adams said Thursday that the projects were delayed by "challenges and unforeseen site conditions," including issues related to the pandemic and supply chain shortages.

"However, we continue to move forward," she said.

Both tank projects are accompanied by redevelopment plans for their respective lakes, though this week's EPA order requires only that the tanks be operational. After the tanks are installed beside Lake Ashburton in Hanlon Park, the plan is to build a playground on top, and leave the lake in place. And at Druid Lake, the plan is to cover the western portion of the lake, with the tanks underneath. The remaining lake is poised to become a recreation area for kayaking and swimming in Druid Hill Park.

Baltimore's two uncovered drinking water reservoirs are the only ones that the EPA is aware of in its Region 3, which includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., EPA officials said.

When the EPA regulation came into effect, Baltimore had five uncovered reservoirs holding treated water. But in the years since, three of those reservoirs have been replaced with covered tanks. The Towson Finished Water Reservoir came into compliance in 2013, the reservoir at Montebello Filtration Plant II in 2014 and the Guilford Reservoir in 2019, according to the EPA order.

Baltimore Sun reporter Christine Condon contributed to this article.