Water Quality
The eastern portion of the Patapsco River is in a highly urbanized area and is subject to extensive urban runoff and other forms of water pollution. The Maryland Department of the Environment has identified the Lower North Branch as containing high levels of heavy metals (chromium, arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, and zinc), as well as phosphorus, fecal coliform bacteria, and PCBs.
Clean up efforts by the residents of surrounding communities have been lead by environmental nonprofit organizations, such as The Friends of Patapsco Valley & Heritage Greenway, Inc. (PHG). From 2006 to 2012, PHG volunteers participating in 183 stream clean ups, removing 264 tons of trash from the streams of the Patapsco Valley watershed.
Read more about this topic: Patapsco River
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)