Local community group struggles to clean part of White Marsh Run

According to Heather Patti, president of the White Marsh-Cowenton Community Association, residents who were hiking along the local river saw a copious number of plastic bottles, rubber tires and car parts that have corroded the waterway of White Marsh Run.

Looking at White Marsh Run near Bird River Grove Road, any passerby can see trash and overturned trees blocking the waterway’s stream.

“The volunteers were going to try and pickup some of the debris and that’s when they gave me the information that it’s a little more involved than we originally thought,” Patti said.

Patti sent an email to Baltimore County’s Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability (DEPS) to help clarify who owns the land as well as how to alleviate the litter.

“At the very least, a mini excavator, trucks, trailers, chainsaws and several workers will be needed—not to mention permission from the property owner and liability,” Patti said in the email.

The issue as to why community volunteers cannot simply schedule cleanups is two-fold. One, the property in question is privately owned by an unidentified person, and two, a steep cliff valleys the water making it treacherous for cleanups.

Additionally, this specific part of White Marsh Run is swamped with a combined drainage that includes serval roadways like White Marsh Boulevard, I-95, Philadelphia Road, Route US 40, and commercial areas such as White Marsh Mall, The Avenue and Nottingham Square.

According to natural resource specialist Wesley Schmidt, enforcement of dumping and issues with excessive trash on private land are “generally handled” by the Code Enforcement office of the Department of Permits Approvals and Inspections.

Not to mention the land ownership situation prevents Baltimore County from being accountable for the cleanliness the area. However, the private land in question is adjacent to Bird River Grove Road and has a portion of public land near the intersection at Ebenezer Road.

“What this means for the trash getting cleaned up is that it is not likely the County can require anyone to clean up this accumulation of trash, and it is not likely that the County has the resources to take it upon itself to do so on its own,” Schmidt said in an email to the WMCCA.

Though the WMCCA has its guesses as to who owns the property in question, nothing has been confirmed.

Patti herself said how she would be reluctant to let volunteers clean up the property if she were the property owner, as it begs the question of who would be liable of an injury.

“The owner is going to have to grant us access to the property, and I don’t know if we as a community association are going to need to like a one-day liability insurance or something,” Patti said. “There’s a lot of variables in place here.”

In an email, Schmidt said his department’s current approach calls for “studying a number of varying education and outreach tactics” to achieve a “higher rate of responsible handling of trash on an individual level.”

“It is disheartening to see any of our waterways in such a state, clogged with trash, but it is an unfortunate truth that many streams deal with,” Schmidt said.