Baltimore Source of Most Toxic Releases into Md. Waterways

A new report says industrial facilities dumped 1.36 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Maryland waterways in 2010, mostly in the Baltimore area.

The report was released Thursday by Environment Maryland, which said it obtained the figures from Environmental Protection Agency reports.

Major findings of the report include:

• Industrial facilities discharged approximately 922,688 pounds of chemicals linked to cancer into the Curtis Creek in Maryland.
• The Gunpowder-Patapsco Watershed is ranked 43rd in the nation for highest amount of total toxic discharges, with 1,339,183 pounds discharged in 2010. That is 98 percent of the toxic chemicals released into all of Maryland's waterways in 2010, according to the report.

The chemicals include arsenic, mercury and benzene, which the environmental group says have been linked to cancer and developmental and reproductive disorders. The report calls on industrial facilities to switch to safer alternatives and for tougher permitting and enforcement by federal and state environmental regulators.

"The bottom line is that Maryland's waterways shouldn't be a polluter's paradise, they should just be paradise. We need clean water now, and we are counting on the federal government to act to protect our health and our environment," said Ewa Krason, field organizer with Environmental Maryland.