Maryland Begins Work to Cleanup Baltimore Waterfront

In September 2007, the state of Maryland began a $130 million project to clean up toxic chemicals and asbestos-laden ship materials from more than 100 acres of shipwreck-strewn Baltimore waterfront to create a public park, wildlife preserve and marine terminal.

The area, northeast of the city's Brooklyn neighborhood, was contaminated by the dumping of oil and toxic chemicals during the demolition of a Navy aircraft carrier and several other ships in the 1990s, which were also found to be laden with asbestos-related materials.

After years of planning and discussions with community groups, the Maryland Port Administration is hauling away thousands of tons of debris and 27 abandoned ships from the maritime junkyard.

The state plans to bury the notorious "shipbreaking" site under sand and dirt dredged from the bottom of the Patapsco River, said Frank Hamons, the Port Administration's deputy director for harbor development. The dredging, which began last week, will help preserve the harbor's shipping lanes. The fill will be used to build a 127-acre peninsula stretching 1,600 feet into the river.