Concrete drain project will restore a wetland
$5.3 million project on Glen Burnie’s Furnace Creek one of dozens planned for Tidal Patapsco watershed
Anne Arundel County is set to break ground on a $5.3 million project on Furnace Creek in Glen Burnie to convert a concrete stormwater sluice more than half a mile long into a natural stream valley.
The large-scale project is one of dozens planned for the Tidal Patapsco watershed in the county’s comprehensive Watershed Protection and Restoration Program.
“This whole project runs from the intersection of New Jersey Avenue and Kent Road all the way to a culvert running under Route 10,” said the program administrator, Erik Michelsen.
The roughly square-mile drainage area sends stormwater runoff from along Ritchie Highway around the area of the Glen Burnie Plaza Shopping Center, J.B.A.
Chevrolet and the Glen Haven Memorial Park.
The project will convert a nearly 20-foot wide concrete channel that has been carrying stormwater swiftly downstream since 1963 into a nearly 5-acre-broad wetland stream complex, Michelsen said.
Officials say the project will also address severe erosion carving out the stream bed where the concrete section ends.
The Patapsco watershed is one of the most challenging for stream restoration and its goal of reducing nutrient pollution.
The area of north county was the center of dense, primarily residential development in the years just before and after World War II. The area was nearly built out, and streambeds were covered over or channelized — as in this case.
County Councilman John Grasso, who fought to get the county’s stormwater fee enacted to pay for the nearly $1 billion backlog in watershed and stormwaterrelated work needed to help meet federal pollution standards, said he is delighted to see the work being done in his old neighborhood.
“I used to ride my motorbike on that strip of concrete for hours,” he said. “I am thrilled to death they are taking that mess and cleaning it up.”
Grasso, who is now running for the state Senate in District 32, and former councilman Dick Ladd fielded criticism from fellow Republicans for supporting the stormwater fee, derided by many as a “rain tax.”
“But we stood up and now it is all coming to fruition,” Grasso said. “The waterways are definitely cleaner.”
Michelsen said his office hopes to see contractors getting underway in the next few weeks.
The project also received a $1.72 million grant from the state last month; the rest will be paid through the stormwater fee trust fund and bonds created with those monies.
The concrete section has degraded over the years and is broken in several sections.
As the contractor regrades the area, some of the concrete sections will be covered over as the contours of the wetland valley are established.
Two more major stream restorations in north county — on Marley and Cabin Branch creeks — are in the design phase and should get underway in about a year, Michelsen said.
To check on the watershed projects in your area, both completed and in the works, go to aarivers.org. pfurgurson@capgaznews.com
The large-scale project is one of dozens planned for the Tidal Patapsco watershed in the county’s comprehensive Watershed Protection and Restoration Program.
“This whole project runs from the intersection of New Jersey Avenue and Kent Road all the way to a culvert running under Route 10,” said the program administrator, Erik Michelsen.
The roughly square-mile drainage area sends stormwater runoff from along Ritchie Highway around the area of the Glen Burnie Plaza Shopping Center, J.B.A.
Chevrolet and the Glen Haven Memorial Park.
The project will convert a nearly 20-foot wide concrete channel that has been carrying stormwater swiftly downstream since 1963 into a nearly 5-acre-broad wetland stream complex, Michelsen said.
Officials say the project will also address severe erosion carving out the stream bed where the concrete section ends.
The Patapsco watershed is one of the most challenging for stream restoration and its goal of reducing nutrient pollution.
The area of north county was the center of dense, primarily residential development in the years just before and after World War II. The area was nearly built out, and streambeds were covered over or channelized — as in this case.
County Councilman John Grasso, who fought to get the county’s stormwater fee enacted to pay for the nearly $1 billion backlog in watershed and stormwaterrelated work needed to help meet federal pollution standards, said he is delighted to see the work being done in his old neighborhood.
“I used to ride my motorbike on that strip of concrete for hours,” he said. “I am thrilled to death they are taking that mess and cleaning it up.”
Grasso, who is now running for the state Senate in District 32, and former councilman Dick Ladd fielded criticism from fellow Republicans for supporting the stormwater fee, derided by many as a “rain tax.”
“But we stood up and now it is all coming to fruition,” Grasso said. “The waterways are definitely cleaner.”
Michelsen said his office hopes to see contractors getting underway in the next few weeks.
The project also received a $1.72 million grant from the state last month; the rest will be paid through the stormwater fee trust fund and bonds created with those monies.
The concrete section has degraded over the years and is broken in several sections.
As the contractor regrades the area, some of the concrete sections will be covered over as the contours of the wetland valley are established.
Two more major stream restorations in north county — on Marley and Cabin Branch creeks — are in the design phase and should get underway in about a year, Michelsen said.
To check on the watershed projects in your area, both completed and in the works, go to aarivers.org. pfurgurson@capgaznews.com
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
