Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Honeywell Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland

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Cleanup Status

In late 2002 and early 2003, EPA, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and the developer, (Harbor East Development Group), negotiated an agreement to limit liability for the developer. After a public notice period, the agreement known as the Prospective Lessee Agreement became effective on May 5, 2003.

Construction for Phase I of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Redevelopment project, now known as Harbor Point, started in late 2007. The opening of the first building, a seven story office building known as the Thames Street Wharf Building, was celebrated on June 10, 2010. Built to house financial services firm, Morgan Stanley, the building is currently also home to Johns Hopkins Medicine International. 

In the summer of 2012, Harbor Point Phase I project continued with the construction of the 21-story tower known as the Exelon Building. The Exelon Building, completed in May, 2016 is a LEED Gold building which will house the headquarters for Exelon’s Constellation business unit plus Exelon’s 24-hour, 65,000 square foot trading floor. The building also includes a 39,000 square feet of street-level retail and 103 residential units and 750–car park garage.

Habor Point Phase Two construction commenced in the spring of 2016. Phase Two includes Point Street Apartments, a 16-story building which will contain 289 residential units and 18,000 square feet of street-level retail and amenity space. This 215,000 square foot building will open in late 2017. Phase Two will also include a 206,100 square foot office building with 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail, and another 120,840 square foot office building

EPA has received the detailed development plan for the third and final phase of the Harbor Point project, Wills Wharf- a 222,000 square foot hotel with 12,730 square feet of street-level retail, 438,199 square foot office tower with 16,000 square feet of street-level retail, and a 346,000 square foot apartment tower with 10,200 square feet of street-level retail. The Phase III construction project is expected to be complete in 2022.

Total buildout of this mixed-use RCRA redevelopment project, including office and residential buildings, specialized retail, hotel space, approximately 9.5 acres of parks and open space, off-street parking and a waterfront promenade, is projected to occur over the next 10 years with a total project cost of approximately $1 billion. The completed project will create 7,100 construction jobs and 6,600 permanent jobs.

Prior to any redevelopment on the property, conceptual and detailed design plans must be approved by EPA and MDE. EPA and MDE will approve the redevelopment only if it is found that it will not interfere with the corrective measures, or the monitoring for the corrective measures, and that increased risks to the health or the environment will not result from the conditions at the site.

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Site Description

Interactive Map of Honeywell Baltimore Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland


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Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the Honeywell Baltimore Site, (now known a Harbor Point), was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century on approximately 18 acres of waterfront property in close proximity to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Chrome ore was processed at the Site for the production of chromium chemicals until 1985. The Site was purchased by the Allied Chemical Company in 1954. Investigations in the early to mid-1980's found large quantities of chromium migrating from the Site into the Harbor and into the groundwater below the Harbor.

On September 29, 1989, EPA and the State of Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) entered into a Consent Decree with Allied-Signal Inc. for further investigation and remediation of the Site. The Consent Decree anticipated that the final remedy would include onsite containment of contaminated soil and groundwater through construction of a deep vertical hydraulic barrier and a multi-media cap (“containment structure”). The Consent Decree specified that the remedy attain two performance standards - a surface water performance standard and a groundwater gradient performance standard. The surface water performance standard requires that the concentration of total dissolved chromium in the surface water be reduced to 50 parts per billion (“ppb”) for each surface water sample location by arithmetically averaging the samples taken at three depths (top, middle and bottom). The groundwater gradient performance standard requires that the groundwater level inside the containment structure be 0.01 foot lower than the water level outside of the containment structure based upon hourly measurements averaged over a 30-day period. In 1992, remedies were selected for four areas at and around the Baltimore Works Site (the Former Manufacturing Area, the Southeast Quadrant, a Newly Acquired Contiguous Property, and Wills Street by Dock Street). Allied Signal, (now Honeywell), remains perpetually responsible for maintaining the containment structure and monitoring the environment around the property.

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Contaminants at this Facility

The primary contaminant in the soil and groundwater is chromium.

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Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility

Institutional Controls include a groundwater monitoring, multi-media containment cap, and restrictions on excavation.

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Land Reuse Information at this Facility

The site is being redeveloped.

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Site Responsibility at this Facility

RCRA Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under the direction of the EPA Region 3 with assistance from Maryland DEP.

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