Highway crew rushes to save thousands of yellow perch eggs
Last week Magothy River Association leader Paul Spadaro shared photos of long, white, double-helix shaped strands in the headwaters of the river, egg sacs of the yellow perch.
They counted 170, each with as many as 20,000 eggs inside, Spadaro said.
“Welcome to the class of 2021,” he wrote on Facebook.
The celebration didn’t last long. It started raining Thursday, and water polluted with sediment was flowing into the Magothy from properties up hill. The sediment was threatening unhatched perch, and adults who were still spawning. The particles of dirt and clay would suffocate the fish.
It was frustrating because the muddy deluge hit when perch were still spawning, compromising the whole class, Spadaro said.
It was also frustrating because the Maryland Department of Environment has been aware of the alleged source of the pollution for more than a year, but hasn’t taken appropriate action, Spadaro said. He thinks it might be too little too late for the class of 2021, and will continue to assess the damage in the coming days.
The alleged source of the sediment pollution is a property on Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard where Ecology Services stores waste removal trucks. No waste is stored at the property.
MDE has been investigating the Ecology Services since last January, and said
“the primary concern in regards to the site involves the lack of gravel on the entrance/ exit road and the resulting concerns about sediment or mud leaving the property,” Spokesman Jay Apperson said MDE has been checking on the facility’s implementation of its pollution prevention plan, and returned to the property Thursday to provide guidance and to “convey the urgency of the matter.”
County Environmental Policy Director Matt Johnston said on Thursday inspectors found sediment-laden runoff coming from the property.
County Executive Steuart Pittman said he will visit the site next week.
“I was outraged to hear about the fiasco yesterday at the Ecology Services site and Lake Waterford. Our inspectors reported the violation to the state last February, but little action has been taken. I will visit the site next week, and will invite Secretary Grumbles to meet me there to assess the situation,” he said in a statement.
A message left at Ecology Services’ Columbia office wasn’t returned Friday.
The sediment running into the perch spawning area was first reported by a resident to Spadaro around 6:30 a.m. Spadaro called Erik Michelsen, Deputy Director of Watershed Protection and Restoration for Anne Arundel County.
The county’s road operation’s department responded, Michelsen said. Workers put bales of hay and coconut fiber on the bank of the headwaters, so the sediment would get trapped in the coarse material instead of entering the river. Michelsen said typically the county’s road crews are focused on fixing roads and keeping them safe, but he said they were happy to do what they could to mitigate an environmental hazard.
The county workers had to wait a few hours for approval from the Maryland Department of Environment before they could put down the hay and coconut fiber Thursday. Michelsen said giving the county the authority to approve such an emergency operation would be helpful in expediting their response in the future.