Bel Air begins restoration of southern part of Plumtree Run

Bel Air, MD - The Town of Bel Air is continuing its efforts to reduce pollution going into the Chesapeake Bay by restoring another part of Plumtree Run.

Working from a grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the stream in the woods between Atwood Road and Brightview of Bel Air Assisted Living will be restored to "slow down erosion," Stephen Kline, the town's public works director, said Thursday.

A ground-breaking for the project is scheduled for today at 11 a.m.

"When it rains, like Thursday, all the stormwater from Howard Park, Baltimore Pike, goes into the storm drains and into Plumtree Run," Kline said. "Throughout the years, it has eroded the banks and the banks aren't slowing down the water and filtering the water before it goes into the Bay."

When the project is completed, the banks and plantings along the banks will help absorb and filter those chemicals that come off the impervious surfaces in town, Kline said.
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The town received a $411,495 grant from DNR through the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund to do the work. Ecotone, Inc., of Forest Hill, is the contractor. The town paid $89,980 for the design of the project, piggybacking on a contract with Harford County Public Schools, Kline said.

Kline said the town was fortunate to get the grant, as only $20 million in grant money was available with $70 million in requests submitted for trust fund grants. "We're very fortunate we got this first one. We're very, very, very happy," he said. This project will help the town treat about 12 acres of its impervious surfaces, helping it meet an expected mandate from the state that the towntreat 20 percent of its impervious surfaces in the next five years.

For Bel Air, with 800 acres of impervious surface, that's 160 acres to treat to prevent nutrients and other pollutants from getting into local streams and, eventually, into the bay. Plumtree Run's restoration began on the other side of Baltimore Pike several years ago, with the daylighting of the stream between Thomas and George streets.

Kline said he drove by that section of the stream Thursday while it rained to make sure it was working properly.

"It used to flood a lot at George Street. Now you can't really see the water. It's going through real slow, through the natural environment of plants and grasses," he said. "It's doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing, going through a filtering system, which prevents erosion."

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Article by Erika Butler, The Aegis. To learn more, please visit Baltimore Sun at http://bsun.md/2t619IL