Program and Special Recognition Includes Free Movie Screening 

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is hosting a tribute to Henrietta Lacks next Saturday, July 29, in the Turner Station neighborhood where she lived. The program celebrates her legacy and will include a special and rare honor from the County Executive, as well as remarks from community leaders and a free screening of the movie, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” starring Oprah Winfrey.

The program, which will take place at the Fleming Community Center, located at 641 Main Street in Turner Station, begins at 10 a.m. and includes refreshments. The public is welcome to attend.

Sponsoring groups include the Lacks Family, Henrietta Lacks House of Healing, Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group, Turner Station Conservation Teams, Fleming Senior Center Council, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. William Wade’s family, Baltimore County Department of Aging, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, The Kingdom Economic System and Turner Station Heritage Foundation Committee. Media sponsors for the event include Radio One and the Afro-American Newspaper.

Henrietta Lacks has been called by some “the most important woman in medical history,”  despite the lack of recognition while she was alive. An African-American Dundalk resident who lived in Turner Station, Henrietta Lacks was the unwitting source of an immortalized line of cells that will reproduce indefinitely and continues to be a source of invaluable medical data today. Her cells were used to test the polio vaccine, were a basis for cloning and in vitro fertilization and are helping to develop anti-cancer drug therapies.

Engineers Will Discuss Upcoming Storm Drains Project

Baltimore County’s Department of Public Works will discuss local drainage improvements to Barton Oaks Road, Overbrook Road, Crossland Road and Fairway Road in the Dumbarton area as well as rehabilitation of existing culverts running beneath Barton Oaks Road, Overbrook Road, and Fairway Road (all near the Suburban Club of Baltimore County).

To keep residents of this historic neighborhood abreast of design and construction discussions, County Engineers will hold a workshop on Wednesday, August 16 between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. at the Pikesville Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, 1301 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville.

During the meeting, residents will have an opportunity to discuss the project’s impact with engineers in an informal setting. For more information, contact James Ekeh, Project Engineer, or Sheldon Epstein, Section Chief, Bureau of Engineering at 410 887-3711.

Dundalk Village Farmers Market
44 Shipping Place, Saturday: 7 am - 12:30 pm 

Eastpoint Farmers Market
7839 Eastern Ave., Wednesday: 9 am – 2 pm

Hereford Farmers Market
17004 York Road, Saturday: 9 am – noon

Kenilworth Farmers Market
798 Kenilworth Drive, Tuesday: 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm. 

Pikesville Farmers Market
1700 Reisterstown Road, Tuesday: 2 pm - 6 pm

Randallstown Farmers Market/Liberty Road
8604 Liberty Road, Wednesday: 1 pm – 5 pm

The Avenue at White Marsh Farmers Market
8215 Honeygo Blvd., Friday: 10 am – 1 pm

Towson Farmers Market

17 Allegheny Avenue, Thursday: 11 am – 3 pm 

 

 

By Steve Walsh, Director, Baltimore County Department of Public Works

Keeping safe and healthy means fighting for clean air and water and serving as good stewards of our land. With 200 miles of waterfront and 2,000 miles of streams and tributaries in Baltimore County, we consider protection of the environment a sacred trust.

When you are a diverse county of more than 831,000 people in a region of over 2.8 million residents, the balance between thoughtful development and preserving environmental resources is one of the major responsibilities of government. We take this responsibility very seriously in Baltimore County.

It’s not just a local issue. Across the country, infrastructure that was built in the 1950s is strained. Water and sewer pipes that were installed decades ago are literally bursting at the seams, increasing the number of water main breaks and waste overflows.

To put the scale of the issue into local perspective, there are 3,160 miles of sewer lines plus 2,139 miles of water lines in Baltimore County alone. Sixty percent of the County's water and sewer pipes are more than 50 years old, which is the average life span of a water and sewer pipe. More than half of all the County's pipes were installed before 1970, with the greatest percentage installed in the 1950s.

We could sit and wait for a major environmental disaster. But, Baltimore County is moving forward, modernizing our crumbling infrastructure with an historic $1.6 billion investment in water and sewer system upgrades.

“These ongoing improvements must be made to protect our citizens, now and for the next generation. As a responsible government, we must bite the bullet now and not kick the can down the road," said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.     

In 2005, Baltimore County entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment to address these pressing needs. Baltimore County has invested over a billion dollars in water and sewer infrastructure, inspecting hundreds of miles of pipe, rebuilding pumping stations, replacing old lines and monitoring the system. Traditional overflow points have been sealed. Replacement lines have been built to accommodate increased capacity. Sanitary overflows are turning the corner with reductions in annual incidents. All of the County’s major pumping stations have been rebuilt and modernized. The County is on schedule to meet its consent decree obligations and is in good standing.

The County implements a rigorous preventive schedule for inspecting, cleaning and monitoring our entire water and sewer system. When a new development is proposed, we carefully evaluate our capacity to be sure we do not overload the system.  

Every community should expect - and deserves - clean water and safe sewer systems. Infrastructure is a shared benefit. Responsible stewardship of our environmental resources is a shared responsibility.