Neighbors concerned about safety amid Middle River development: 'Who's gonna help us?'

MIDDLE RIVER, Md — Residents of the Williams Estates and Peppermint Woods community say a major commercial development across the street is flooding their homes, bringing rats into the neighborhood, and raising concerns about toxic chemicals left behind from a former World War II manufacturing site.

Aviation Station, the development site, has plans for a new Walmart and several other businesses. Neighbors say the project is already causing problems, and they worry it will only get worse.

Jeff Morgan

"So the problems with the chemicals, the forever chemicals over there, I feel that the problems have never been fixed. I feel it was more brushed over and swept under the rug to continue with the project instead of addressing the issues," said Paul Treash, a concerned neighbor who has lived in the community for six years.

Treash and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation filed a lawsuit last year over potential pollution at the site.

"They made promises to us to fix some issues, and the issues were with the water overflowing out to the bay," Treash said. "As you can see in some of the pictures, they haven't fixed it."

When heavy rains hit the area, the impact of the construction becomes visible. Photos taken by Treash show high water levels around the neighborhood and on the roadway.

Paul Treash

"It's bringing the silt and everything from that development over into our community," Treash said. "The flooding that's going out on Eastern Avenue from the development, when it rains real hard, the whole street floods out across the whole road."

Delegate Ryan Nawrocki (R), who represents Baltimore County, says the site should require approval from the Army Corps of Engineers before development can move forward, given the manufacturing history of the land.

"To the best of my knowledge, the Army Corps of Engineers has not done that at all with this site yet. We have moved forward with this project," he said.

Nawrocki also raised concerns about traffic safety along Eastern Boulevard, where he says there have been multiple fatalities in recent years. More businesses would bring more vehicles and pedestrians to a busy stretch of road that currently lacks a sidewalk.

"We're talking about four fatalities in the past several years in this area. This is not just minor fender benders," Nawrocki said. "We're talking about a very dangerous stretch of road without a significant requirement on roadway improvements here."

Residents feel left behind

Treash says he feels the county and state are not doing enough to address the community's concerns.

"I'm hoping that we get somebody that will speak up and hear our voices and fight for us, that's what we want. This isn't a party line thing. This is like, who's gonna help us?" Treash said.

Nawrocki suggested the community's makeup may be influencing the level of response from officials.

"I think that if this was in any other area, if this wasn't in an area, frankly, that's not immediately adjacent to a mobile home park, if this was adjacent to million-dollar homes, there would probably be a very different approach from the county and the state," Nawrocki said.

Councilman David Marks, who represents the area, was not available for an interview but said his office has responded to each complaint received and successfully pushed the State Highway Administration to add more traffic lanes in the area.

The Reich Brothers, the developers of the land, have not responded to a request for an interview. WMAR 2 News is also working to obtain interviews with the State Highway Administration and Baltimore County.

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