[
18
]
The Port of Baltimore
■
May/June 2014
MPA Rounds Up Funds for
Waterwheel Project
GREENPORT
The current of the Jones Falls provides
the power to turn the waterwheel,
which in turn drives the conveyer belt
that lifts trash from the water and
deposits it into a Dumpster barge.
river’s current is insufficient. The trash
interceptor is capable of removing up to
50,000 pounds of trash per day.
The MPA is providing $500,000 to
WPB for construction and installation of
the waterwheel, followed by 20 years’
worth of maintenance funding. For the
T
he Maryland Port Administration
(MPA) is playing a vital role in
keeping a major Baltimore
waterway clean.
As part of its Masonville Dredged
Material Containment Facility (DMCF)
mitigation package, the MPA has
participated with the Waterfront
Partnership of Baltimore (WPB) in a
Jones Falls waterwheel project. M.
Kathleen Broadwater, MPA Deputy
Executive Director, lauded the initiative
during a recent ceremony.
The waterwheel project involves
the use of one of five trash interceptors
that are required by DMCF construction
permits to mitigate open water and
wetland impacts in the area.
The current of the Jones Falls provides
the power to turn the waterwheel, which
in turn drives the conveyer belt that lifts
trash from the water and deposits it into
a Dumpster barge. A solar panel array,
capable of generating 2,500 watts of
electricity on a sunny day, delivers power
to operate the waterwheel when the
first five years after construction, $16,500
will be provided annually for trash removal
and mechanical maintenance. Then, for
the 15 years that follow, $10,000 will
be provided annually for mechanical
maintenance only — the numbers are all
per the Masonville Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) mitigation package. Total
funding provided by the MPA will reach
$732,500.
The MPA is only providing funding, not
performing any service.
The Maryland Environmental Service
(MES), on behalf of the MPA, managed
the construction and operation of the
Masonville DMCF.
MPA Deputy Executive Director M. Kathleen Broadwater and Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore
President Laurie Schwartz welcomed the Jones Falls waterwheel that serves as a trash interceptor.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL MCALLEN
