Curtis Bay News

More than 4 million gallons of sewage spilled from a pumping station in Halethorpe into the Patapsco River starting Monday afternoon, prompting health warnings from Linthicum downstream.

A Capitol Heights-based scrap metal processor has purchased a Baltimore County scrapyard and is pushing to build an export terminal in Curtis Bay to meet a surge in demand from the global steel industry. Joseph Smith & Sons Inc. began operations this week at the former Recovermat Mid-Atlantic LLC demolition waste facility in Halethorpe, retaining its 20 workers. Smith Vice President Bob Bonnes said the company is converting the facility into a shredding plant for autos and steel scrap. Smith's larger project is to open the Curtis Bay export terminal by mid-2009. It would become the first terminal in years to ship scrap iron and steel from the port of Baltimore. 'Our major interest in this property is obviously to get our scrap metal loaded and out of this country,' said Bonnes, who brought an international focus when he joined Smith in February 2007. 'It gives us access to the world, not just the U.S.' Rapid development in China and India has resulted in an increase in the price of the recycled metals used to make steel. Scrap from the West Coast and Australia feeds the Asian industry, and the East Coast is responding to growing demand from Mediterranean markets. Turkey, an export market targeted by Smith, is the world's biggest buyer of scrap for its production of steel for the Middle East, Bonnes said. Smith envisions local steel mills, such as the one in Sparrows Point and others in Pennsylvania and Delaware, buying shredded scrap directly from its new Halethorpe processor. The 27-acre Curtis Bay terminal, at the end of Asiatic Avenue just east of the CSX coal and ore piers, could also serve local steelmakers and process shipments of salt, bulk liquid and other commodities, Bonnes said. Smith operates a small scrap export site in Wilmington, Del., but the Prince George's County company focuses on the domestic market. To build the Baltimore terminal, Smith and joint-venture partner Port Contractors Inc. of Wilmington need final approval and permits from the city, the Army Corps of Engineers and the MarylandDepartment of the Environment. 'We are developing it looking to minimize the amount of dredging to limit the impact on the bay and the costs,' Bonnes said. 'We have a clean bill of health to go forward.' The site, formerly the Amoco Baltimore Asphalt Terminal, has been subject to environmental audits and cleanup efforts through the MDE.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for a missing boater, who fell overboard near Loves Point, Md., at midnight Monday.

A Baltimore fire official says workers were evacuated from a Curtis Bay chemical plant after a contractor received an acid burn to the face from a leaking tank.

Every day, thousands more people throughout the county are using buses and trains to get to work, apparently prodded by higher gasoline prices to change their commuting habits.

It's still early in the season, but one thing seems assured; we can look to the lower bay complex from the lower Potomac and across the lower bay to and in the Pocomoke and Tangier Sounds to once again rule in ...

Ten years ago, St. Anthanasius Chapel in Curtis Bay appeared destined for the wrecking ball, after the Archdiocese of Baltimore closed it out of concerns that the 1891 building was structurally unsound.

Ten years ago, St. Anthanasius Chapel in Curtis Bay appeared destined for the wrecking ball, after the Archdiocese of Baltimore closed it out of concerns that the 1891 building was structurally unsound.

A serious crash in south county yesterday sent three people to the hospital, officials said.

The Coast Guard responded to a call to help a disabled vessel in the Patapsco River late Thursday.

Hundreds of people lined Annapolis Road in Odenton Monday evening to view and enjoy the annual Odenton Memorial Day Parade hosted by the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company.

Saturday, May 24, 2008 WBAL Radio as reported by Anne Kramer and the Baltimore Sun Police say one person has been charged in the attack on several people in Federal Hill last Sunday.

A 21-year-old woman was charged today with several counts of attempted murder and assault in a brawl early Sunday in Federal Hill in which three people were stabbed after an argument over an apparent traffic ...

Ramona Vazquez believes in equal-opportunity helping. After she and other Coast Guard spouses started a charity for sailors with young children at Curtis Bay, they said they realized there were many more people ...

“They don't hurt the industry, but they don't help as much as you think they would”

Even though "Iron Man" the movie has energized fans of the superhero, John Moyer of Annapolis isn't convinced its recent release - or the barrage of comic book movies coming soon - will draw more customers to ... via Hometown Annapolis

The commanding officer of the U.S. Cost Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Capt. Stephen C. Duca, is retiring after 27 years of service, and is to be replaced at a ceremony this morning by the yard's industrial manager, ... via The Baltimore Sun

A tree grows in Hurlock. And while this is not a tale of lost innocence as recounted in a New York borough by novelist Betty Smith, self-improvement and redemption do figure in this account. via The Baltimore Sun

“But there is a limit on what we can subsidize.”

"They are a business," she said. "If they are going to operate as a business, then they got to get themselves to the level to sustain themselves." That's a turnaround from the city's position last year, when ... via City Paper

“For years, this was an area that was unclean, unkempt and unsafe. Very soon, it will be a place to learn about the environment, to spot wildlife, and enjoy outdoor recreation using some of our state's beautiful natural resources.”

Gov. Martin O'Malley, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon and children from Maree Farring Elementary School broke ground today on an environmental education center that will help anchor a $153 million waterfront restoration project near Baltimore's Brooklyn and Curtis Bay communities.

The vast cleanup of 22 acres of shoreline along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River -- one of the most contaminated areas in the city's harbor -- has already led to recovery by the Maryland Port Administration of 30,000 tons of trash, roughly the same weight as 4,000 buses, including timber, concrete, PCB-containing electrical equipment, more than two dozen shipwrecks and nearly 200,000 gallons of petroleum-tainted water. Some of the debris even dates back to the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. Read more

“Some are outdoor art. Jana Ospray, our co-parent advisor, came up with the idea last year. We'd like to raise $2,000 this year.”

Those who say Annapolis High is for the birds are right. Mostly. A group of ten students who are members of the Annapolis Panthers Habitat for Humanity Club work with teens across the county in support of the ... via Hometown Annapolis