Fresh Water, Foul Sewage
DPW explains why Baltimore’s Jones Falls turned green today
A worker investigating a water main break put dye into a storm drain, the agency says
Above: Near Mill No. 1, the Jones Falls was a shocking shade of green for a time today. City officials said it was dye used to test for a water man break. (Fern Shen)
Video footage showing a bright day-glo green substance swirling into the Jones Falls prompted concern today and more than a few wisecracks.
“It is what chromium looks like when it’s polluting a stream.”
“Are the Ninja Turtles our new police commissioner?”
“No, its fine part of trump admins clean water initiative.”
The video was posted at 1:47 p.m. by Curt Kotula, creative director at FastSpot.
Kotula tweeted that the strange green substance was spotted near Mill No. 1. (His company is located in that building at 2980 Falls Road.)
“Something to worry about or not?” he asked.
It took a while, but by late afternoon city officials had an answer:
Not.
“A worker investigating a suspected water main break put dye into a storm drain to help confirm the location,” @BaltimoreDPW tweeted. “Turns out there is no main break, and the dye is dissipating.”
The Brew chimed in on Twitter with an idea we thought might save everyone some time and angst.
“A friendly suggestion: Put out a press release in advance next time so people don’t wonder what the heck is going on.”
To which @BaltimoreDPW replied:
