Valerie Hsu, Author at South Baltimore Community Land Trust

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is considering renewing a Title V air pollution operating permit for the BRESCO incinerator, and it’s up to us to tell MDE to DENY THE PERMIT at the public hearing on October 1.

Public Hearing on BRESCO Permit Renewal
6:00–8:00PM on Thursday, October 1, 2026
Curtis Bay Rec Center (1630 Filbert St.)
RSVP

As a study published last year showed, the BRESCO incinerator and Curtis Bay Energy incinerator are major sources of air pollution that contribute to serious health problems in our communities, together associated with more than $100 million in annual health-related damages — a figure that only accounts for four pollutants and falls disproportionately on communities that have long faced environmental injustice. BRESCO, Baltimore’s largest single source of air pollution, also generates hundreds of thousands of tons of ash every year containing toxins like lead, mercury, and dioxins, making it the single largest material filling up the city and county landfills. Despite long-standing community concerns, MDE has denied access for basic public health-based testing of the ash to assess the risk to our communities.

Our community has already achieved an important victory by ending Maryland’s recognition of trash incineration as renewable energy. Now it is time for MDE, the City of Baltimore, and our public institutions to take the next step to hold these polluters accountable for public harms and DENY THE PERMIT.

Come to the hearing on Thursday, October 1, make your voice heard, and urge MDE to protect public health and the future of South Baltimore communities.

RSVP TO ATTEND HEARING

On Thursday, August 13, we celebrated the completion of the new community-created mural on the site of the future South Baltimore Environmental Justice Center! This mural came together through the vision of artist kolpeace, the creativity and commitment of three talented Baltimore City youth (Kelis Adams, Josie Ritchie, and Taiyone Simms), and the support of Mural Arts‘ Strength to Solidarity initiative.

The work is titled Nothing without Air, Earth, and Water / Nada sin Aire, Tierra, y Agua. With its scenes of youth organizing, community-led research, neighborhood revitalization, and the natural wonders of the Chesapeake, this neighborhood centerpiece will be a beacon for us as we build the South Baltimore we all deserve.

Cinematographer Niajea Randolph helped us capture the journey of creating this mural:

*Friday was our field trip day to Washington, D.C. where we visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.*

From July 6-10, 2026, the Brooklyn/Curtis Bay ENOUGH Initiative hosted 30 students grades 3-8 for a summer leadership camp. Over the course of the week, we learned about qualities of community leaders and reflected on how we can be community leaders in our schools, homes, and neighborhoods. We met leaders from across Baltimore City, visited local sites where community leaders have made a difference, and ended the week with a field trip to Washington, D.C. museums sponsored by the National Parks Service!

Our transformation of Hazel Street continues with two beautiful home renovations seeking homeowners! Both 1622 Hazel St. and 1624 Hazel St. will hit the market at list prices of $160,000 each on June 20, 2026.

With 1,400 square feet of living space, 2bd/1.5ba, large unfinished basements, and fenced-in yards, these homes are looking for families who want to settle in all that life in South Baltimore has to offer. You’ll be across the street from Curtis Bay Park, around the corner from the new South Baltimore EJ Center, and down the block from other SBCLT homeowners who share your vision for building a thriving, healthy community in South Baltimore, one block at a time.

Fill out our homeowner interest form to learn about eligibility requirements, review your financing options, and tour the homes!

HOMEOWNER INTEREST FORM

Community Action Plan Vote-In Meeting

We can’t wait to see you all on Wednesday, June 24 at 4:30PM at the meeting to ratify the Brooklyn/Curtis Bay Neighborhood Action Plan!

Over the past year and a half, residents, community leaders, stakeholders, and partners across Brooklyn and Curtis Bay have come together to listen, learn, discuss, and plan for the future of our two great neighborhoods. We have met with community members and organizations throughout the process to ensure that we work together to create a neighborhood action plan that reflects the needs, priorities, and vision of our residents.

Now, we need your help to make it official.

Anybody who lives or works in these neighborhoods is invited to join us on June 24, 2026 at 4:30 PM for the Community Action Plan Vote-In Meeting. With your vote, we can officially adopt the Neighborhood Action Plan and move forward toward implementation and our community-wide release celebration in August.

Bring the whole family and be part of this important milestone.

Details

Wednesday, June 24, 2026
4:30PM

Location

Total Health Care — South Baltimore
3540 S. Hanover Street
Baltimore, MD 21225

There will be:

Free food 🥘
Door prizes 🏆
Children are welcome! 🚸

So, what exactly is this Neighborhood Action Plan?

Starting in 2025, SBCLT has been the host organization (the “community quarterback”) of Brooklyn/Curtis Bay ENOUGH, a targeted state-funded initiative to end childhood poverty in Brooklyn and Curtis Bay. Through BCB ENOUGH, we organize with community leaders around the issue of child poverty, because we know that early pollutant exposure is a cause of adverse health and social outcomes. Our BCB ENOUGH community leaders have been listening, researching, and designing neighborhood-based strategies and solutions to address childhood poverty. This Neighborhood Action Plan outlines those strategies and solutions.

Why do I need to vote?

This plan was created by the community, for the community, and your voice matters. Just because group of community leaders drafted the plan through a year-long community listening process doesn’t mean that the community’s role is done. This plan belongs to YOU and to every other resident of Brooklyn and Curtis Bay. One group of leaders can’t decide the plan for the whole community. We need YOUR participation in this vote-in meeting to share your thoughts about the plan, and to vote to adopt it if you support it.

What happens after the Neighborhood Action Plan is adopted?

If the Neighborhood Action Plan is adopted after the vote on Wednesday, June 24, we start working together to implement it! The plan includes lots of concrete strategies and solutions to address childhood poverty in Brooklyn and Curtis Bay. These strategies require the whole community to come together. So, the work doesn’t end with the vote on June 24. In fact, it’s just beginning!

We look forward to seeing you there as we take this exciting next step together!

Important Update as of June 2, 2026: The Maryland Department of the Environment has POSTPONED the BRESCO permit hearing originally scheduled for Thursday, June 11. The new date has not yet been announced. It will NOT take place on Thursday, June 11 as originally planned. We will update the SBCLT website calendar with the rescheduled date as soon as we learn of it.

On Wednesday, May 27 we joined with our partners from B’More Just Transition and CEEJH to host a community forum on how Baltimore can stand up for environmental justice.

During our conversation, we talked about how our movement is connected to a larger environmental justice movement nationally and statewide; we recapped the 2026 legislative session including lessons learned from this year’s legislative campaign around the CHERISH Act; and we brainstormed strategies and action for beyond. If you missed the conversation and would like to get caught up, you can review the slides here.

Here are things you can do to take action today!

Register to vote in Maryland’s primary election on June 23. You’ll need to register with a party affiliation by June 2, 2026 to vote in this primary.
Sign the Environmental Justice Voter Pledge to share your commitment to center our communities’ health and wellbeing this election cycle.
Stay tuned for more information about the rescheduled BRESCO incinerator permit hearing

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October 1: BRESCO Incinerator Permit Hearing