Blistering state report on Baltimore’s Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant details ‘failures at nearly every level’

A blistering state report on Baltimore’s ailing Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant made public Thursday detailed “systemic problems” plaguing the facility, including “failures at nearly every level.” The report, produced by the Maryland Environmental Service, which took over the plant in late March, laid out a variety of infrastructure problems that have caused solid waste to build up in various parts of the sewage treatment process at the plant, leading to excessive releases of harmful bacteria and nutrients.