Baltimore spending board affirms consent decree for Patapsco and Back River wastewater treatment plants

Baltimore’s spending board voted Wednesday to approve paying a $3.3 million penalty to the state — a historic fine for pollution that flowed from the city’s poorly maintained wastewater treatment plants and into the Patapsco and Back Rivers. Along with the payment comes a big to-do list for the city, in the form of a court-monitored consent decree, which the city’s Board of Estimates also approved Wednesday.