Anne Arundel County lifts sewer-related development moratorium

Anne Arundel County officials lifted a monthslong development moratorium Wednesday that was put in place this year because of problems with sewer capacity.

The county will “borrow” unused wastewater capacity from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to end the three-month moratorium quickly. Otherwise, it would take years for the county to develop additional capacity or divert sewage to another treatment facility.

Starting Feb. 27, officials paused all development in Northwest Anne Arundel County, including around Arundel Mills and the BWI Business District, key areas for business growth.

The moratorium was needed because Anne Arundel County was exceeding its agreed-upon capacity limits for sewage flowing through a pipeline in Baltimore County en route to a Baltimore City treatment plant. The moratorium paused at least 21 development projects that had not been approved for sewer connections, known as allocations.

County Executive Steuart Pittman said lifting the moratorium was possible because of regional and intergovernmental cooperation, and he thanked those partners for working on a “regional solution that allows us to protect the Patapsco River while continuing to deliver the housing and the jobs that our region depends on.”

Anne Arundel County officials negotiated with the Maryland Aviation Administration to “borrow” BWI’s unused wastewater capacity.

The Aviation Administration reviewed its current usage and its plans for the next five years, county officials said.

“We are proud to help support our local economy by temporarily making excess sewer capacity available,” Maryland Aviation Administration CEO Shannetta Griffin said in a statement. “This agreement is an opportunity to advance responsible infrastructure planning and development.”

Additionally, county officials said they were told by the Maryland Department of the Environment that the actual peak flow measurements are lower than the calculated flow, “providing the county with some additional peak flow capacity.”

In Pittman’s proposed budget, he allocated about $60 million from the county’s Department of Public Works fund to start planning projects to divert wastewater flow from Baltimore into the county’s own facilities.

Construction of those diversion projects is expected to be complete within four or five years, officials said.

This article will be updated.