Are organizers of a June 11 “floatilla” event at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor asking participants to “take one for the team?”

Kayakers, canoeists, Dragon Boat paddlers, stand-up paddle-boarders and other brave souls are being sought to help call attention to street run-off, raw sewage and trash in the harbor by, basically, paddling through it.

“Is it safe?” is the first question in the FAQ for the website for “The Baltimore Floatilla for a Healthy Harbor.”

A simple “yes” is actually not how organizers begin their answer.

“Groups have been paddling safely in the Baltimore Harbor for many years, but we do not take safety for granted,” they say.

The organizers – the Waterfront Partnership, Baltimore Recreation and Parks, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others – promise to monitor water quality in the days leading up to the event “so that participants can be made aware of recent conditions.” And they note that one of those special conditions might require special safety measures.

“We may ask participants to take extra precautions such as not participating if they have compromised immune systems or open wounds and asking participants to consider wearing gloves and waterproof clothing,” the website notes.



(A special condition might be something like the city’s February 24 release of 12.6 million gallons of rainwater mixed with raw sewage.)

But presuming it’s just the normal amount of pollution on the day of the event, participants should find everything they need to stay safe at Canton Waterfront Park, at 3001 Boston Street, where the 8 a.m. event will start.

“Showers, hand washing stations, and hand sanitizer will be provided there,” according to the event website.

“Raise Your Paddles”

Of course, it’s not all about dodging bacteria and sewage.

The plan is for the boaters to make their way to the Inner Harbor, “raise their voices and their paddles for clean and healthy water” and return to the park “for an after-party featuring food, fun and live music by Baltimore’s own ‘Tongue in Cheek.’”

The organizers hope the entertaining event can raise awareness about a serious problem.

“Every year thousands of people paddle in the Baltimore Harbor, but each year millions of gallons of sewage and polluted stormwater also flow into the City’s streams and Harbor,” said Adam Lindquist, the director of Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative.

“We are calling on paddlers from Baltimore and around the region,” he said in a release, “to rally on the Inner Harbor to show their support for stopping this flow of pollution and cleaning up the Baltimore Harbor.”

Participants must have access to their own vessel and pre-register at BaltimoreFloatilla.com by June 5.

Who’s Responsible? What to Do?

What measures should the protesters be advocating for cleaning up the harbor?

To answer that question, would-be participants can certainly study the recommendations of the Partnership’s “Healthy Harbor Initiative.”

It has that “Swimmable & Fishable by 2020” goal the mayor and others reference, and modest strategies to achieve it. Their recommended fixes for the harbor’s fecal bacteria problem, for instance, consist of advising citizens to properly dispose of pet waste, to never pour grease down their drain and to “support increased funding for infrastructure repairs.”

A more troubling primer might be the latest (2014) “Healthy Harbor Report Card” issued by the Waterfront Partnership and Blue Water Baltimore. It gives the entire Inner Harbor a flunking grade, noting that they have recorded bacteria levels far higher “than safe for humans to touch.”

But the most disturbing source of information is the recent report by the Environmental Integrity Project, Stopping the Flood Beneath Baltimore’s Streets.

This report makes it clear that the city has little chance of reaching the “Swimmable & Fishable by 2020” goal because they have already blown their deadline to comply with a 2002 federal consent decree to stop discharging raw sewage into the Jones Falls and Inner Harbor, the main source of the problem.

The city is now seeking a 10-year or longer extension from state and federal authorities.

The report notes that the city has already spent $700 million on projects to correct the problem and has tripled water and sewer bills for city residents, raising $2 billion.

And yet they have only completed less than half of the work they promised to complete by January 1, 2016.

Some other Brew reading on the topic

• Study finds massive unreported sewage overflows in Baltimore

• What’s behind the city’s reluctance to disclose its sewage releases?