Efforts begin to suppress midge population on Back River in Baltimore County as wastewater treatment woes continue

When the insects first started appearing en masse near the docks of Weaver’s Marine Service in Essex around 2008, owner Sam Weaver wasn’t sure what they were. “We didn’t know. We were spraying in the air. People were spraying for mosquitoes and all kinds of things,” he said. In truth, the insects were midges — tiny aquatic flies that occur in their greatest densities in nutrient-rich bodies of water.