Earlier this month we published our Spring Newsletter. You can read it in its original format here, or you can read a updated version below [Text in brackets is new].
Since our last newsletter, we have won an award!
Thanks to Chesapeake Bay Trust, we received a grant to host the Maryland Climate Corps ‘All Hands on Deck’ event. The event will be led by Sparks Bank Nature Center staff and curated by Climate Corp and Maryland Service Year Fellow Zakoi Basim-Brown, where up to 40 other Climate Corp Fellows will engage with topics relevant to our work through interactive environmental activities, giving them a chance to gain new skills and an appreciation for the services provided by our environment.
Growing Our Team
Last fall, Gunpowder Riverkeeper welcomed three new full-time community outreach specialists to Sparks Nature Center. Zakoi Brown, a member of the Maryland Climate Corps, is our resident artist. They use their talents to bring others together and raise awareness about pressing issues in the Gunpowder watershed. Damien Emory, a Department of Service and Civic Innovation (DSCI) Service Year Option Program Member, cares deeply for the fauna and flora of the natural world and wishes to protect it for future generations. Tage Sylvan, another DSCI Service Year Option Program Member, produces much of our outreach communications. When he has the time, he researches the history of the Sparks Bank and the wider Sparks area.
High School Collaboration
We have collaborated with North Harford High School and Western School of Technology and Environmental Science to map E. coli levels in the Gunpowder River. Through these partnerships, we now have the resources to visualize this important data. Partnered schools can give their Geographic Information Systems (GIS) students real world data to work with, and we can share our work with the public.
Terry Newendorp Scholarship:
In 2024, Gunpowder Riverkeeper received six applications for the Terry Newendorp Environmental Scholarship for the Gunpowder River Award. These exemplary students presented a strong environmental ethos and we found that all were each deserving of the $1,000 award! The scholarship is still available in 2025, though only until April 15th, so interested students should apply as soon as possible!
Legislative Updates:
New legislation has been proposed in the Baltimore County Council that would bolster county-wide conservation efforts. We gave testimony in support of this legislation at a six hour work session that was held on April 1st. Links to the bills we support along with brief descriptions can be found below.
- Bill 18-25 – Requires solar facilities to be located more than 1,000 feet from other properties with solar facilities.
- Bill 19-25 – Would create a ballot measure allowing Baltimore County voters to decide whether to amend the county charter to require a supermajority of council members to change the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line. This bill passed on April 7th, giving Baltimore County voters the opportunity to vote on the ballot measure on November 3rd, 2026.
- Bill 21-25 – New solar facilities may not be proposed on prime farmland as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture.
[Bill 19-25 has already been voted on, but Bill 18-25 and Bill 21-25 are still upcoming as new amendments for the bills have been put forward]. You can view Baltimore County Council Member contact info here and Upcoming legislation here. Links to attend and/or register for legislative/work sessions can be found here.
Gunpowder Riverkeeper is Seeking Volunteers: We are currently looking for volunteers who can assist in the development, fundraising, programing, planning, and staffing of the Sparks Bank Nature Center. We would also greatly appreciate the help of Volunteers with skills or experience in: grant research, grant writing and submission, graphic design, environmental science, water quality, and legal work. Please email us if you are interested in donating your time and expertise to protect water.
Advocacy
Baltimore County Zoning
Gunpowder Riverkeeper recently opposed a special exception zoning change #2025-001-X from RC-5 (Rural Residential) to a solar farm. This solar farm would replace 15 acres of forested land, home to a vernal pool and a stream. This could potentially carry excess sediment and warm water into the Little Gunpowder Falls. The aforementioned Bill 18-25 will prevent this zoning change from going into motion if it passes, and as such, we support it. [The developer has since lost interest in the project, sparing the vernal pools from destruction].
Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP)
Gunpowder Riverkeeper has been working with a host of other nonprofits on assessing the potential for environmental and community impacts of the proposed MPRP a 70 mile long, 500,000 volt transmission line that would impact preserved lands, conservation easements, prime agricultural lands, forests, and sensitive streams in Baltimore, Carroll, and Frederick County.
After a review by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Power Plant Research Program (PPRP), it was deemed that the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) application to build the MPRP put forth by Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (PSEG) was not administratively complete and in accordance with COMAR 20.79.01.06. This is in large part because PSEG failed to explain why and how it came to the conclusions it did. For instance, there were alternative routes that went parallel to existing power lines and alternative routes that had fewer environmental impacts, but they were rejected without sufficient explanation. In general, the application failed to provide sufficient information, reasoning, and consistent terminology. As such, the rejection of the MPRP application is good news. In terms of bad news, the Public Service Commission does not consider Gunpowder Riverkeeper an intervening party in the case, as we are instead considered an interested party.
We feel it is important that we have intervening party status, as our supporters environmental interests may be impacted by the MPRP. Please email Andrew.johnston@maryland.gov on the following points:
- The PSC should not approve PSEG’s MPRP CPCN application, as it is administratively incomplete.
- Ask the PSC to deny PSEG’s hearing schedule request until its CPCN application is complete.
- Ask the PSC to grant Gunpowder Riverkeeper intervening status in the case, as we represent localized, specific, environmental interests that may be impacted by the project.
Hampstead Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP)
After last month’s WWTP Hearing, the public comment period for the Discharge Permit Renewal Application has been extended to May 21st. It is important that the plant meet its environmental and safety goals before the Discharge Permit Renewal Application is granted. If you have concerns about the project, we ask you to voice them by emailing jonathan.rice@maryland.gov.
Photos from the Hampstead WWTP Hearing
Ridgely’s Reserve Update:
The State of Maryland filed a complaint against D.R. Horton, Forestar Group Inc. and Kinsley Construction LLC soon after Gunpowder Riverkeeper filed a 60 Day Notice of Intent under the Clean Water Act to these parties to abate sediment pollution in Foster’s Branch and the tidal Gunpowder River. Gunpowder Riverkeeper’s intervention in the case has since been granted by the Harford County Circuit Court.
Please Join us for Upcoming EVENTS
If you would like to celebrate the progress we and our nonprofit partners have made so far, Join us at the Mad About Mud Flotilla Event, held on April 26th at Mariners Point in Joppatown Maryland overlooking the tidal Gunpowder River. You can bring your own gear or use rental kayaks from Ultimate Watersports, now discounted at $30, down from the previous $55. More information about the event can be found at this link. See you there!
Join us from 12-3 PM on April 19th, when Gunpowder Riverkeeper will be hosting an Earth Day event just outside the Sparks Bank Nature Center, located at 1207 Sparks Rd. We will be demonstrating some of the unique ways otherwise disposable objects can be reused. Other local nonprofits and a state park representative will also be attending the event with their own themed demonstrations. [You can read about our earth day event here].