Sewage backups are a big problem in Baltimore City. When blockages occur in the sewer’s main line, or when heavy rain overwhelms Baltimore’s aging pipes, sewage has no place to go but up and out into people’s basement floor drains, toilets, showers, and washing machines. These backups happen thousands of times each year and put people’s health, homes, and livelihoods at risk.
What's the problem? Baltimore City has two programs meant to help residents deal with sewage backups, the Expedited Reimbursement Program (https://bit.ly/DPW-BBERP) and the Sewage Onsite Support Cleanup Program (https://bit.ly/DPW-SOS). But for years since launching these programs, the City has said they only can apply when a sewer backup is caused by rainfall, not any other reason - even if the cause of the back up happened in the City-owned, City-maintained portion of the sewer system, outside of the affected household's property. As a result of this, plus a lack of advertising of these programs and restrictions on what damages can be reimbursed, very few of the >1,000 households that experienced sewer backups last year were able to get this help.
What can we do? On Wednesday, October 28, at 10AM, the Baltimore City Council is holding a public hearing on the Sewage Backup Expedited Reimbursement & Direct Assistance Programs. Now is your chance to tell your story with sewage backups, speak up on behalf of your community, and tell Baltimore City Council: we need sewage backup assistance programs that work rain or shine!
Can you attend this public hearing, either in person at City Hall or virtually on WebEx? Sign up here, and we'll follow up with everything you need to join and testify about sewage backups in Baltimore City.
Baltimore City Hall
100 Holiday St
Baltimore, MD 21205
United States