In response to an article that appeared in the Baltimore Brew on Thursday entitled "Baltimore renegotiaties EPA consent decree, lowering its costs by $500 million,"  Baltimore City Public Works Director Alfred H. Foxx, Director has issued the following statement:

“We appreciate the time that the Baltimore Brew took to meet with Mr. Rudy Chow, Head of Baltimore City’s Bureau of Water and Wastewater in the Department of Public Works.  We would like to point out that Region 3 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) have worked closely with the City to ensure we are doing all that is necessary to continually make progress in our Consent Decree by meeting our milestone performance dates.  We take pride in the fact that we have respected and have met the deadlines imposed under the Consent Decree thus far.  As pointed out in this news article, much remains to be done to complete improvements to the City’s wastewater conveyance system, including how best to protect the environment and the affordability of those improvements.  We are in discussions with EPA, MDE and DOJ about possible modifications to the Consent Decree, but no agreement has been reached.  Any proposed modification of the Consent Decree will require approval of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland following an opportunity for public comment.”