Explosion At Water Treatment Plant Draws Firefighters: See Photos

ODENTON, MD — A Tuesday explosion at a wastewater treatment plant in Odenton did not injure any workers, firefighters told Patch, but employees are investigating whether there was damage to the facility.

Patch asked the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works if there was any damage to the Piney Orchard Water Reclamation Facility.

DPW Spokesperson Matt Diehl replied that he is "not sure at this point."

"I will reach out when I know more," Diehl told Patch in an email, noting that DPW regained access to its facility by 1:35 p.m.

Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Jenny Macallair said the explosion happened inside the building, located at 8791 Piney Orchard Parkway.

"There was an explosion in the room caused by something electrical," Macallair said. "BGE responded to take the primary role in the investigation."

BGE spokesperson Stephanie Weaver said the explosion happened while the utility company was responding to an outage call.

"While on site, an incident occurred involving BGE and customer equipment. BGE is currently working with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department and the customer to safely restore service," Weaver told Patch in an email.

This was Anne Arundel County's second explosion of the day. In an unrelated incident, an explosion aboard a sailboat docked in Shady Side hospitalized a man with possibly life-threatening injuries.

BGE's power outage map shows that an outage was reported in the area of the plant at 9:04 a.m. The map says fewer than five customers are affected.

The fire department said it was called to the scene at 11:32 a.m.

Fire engines, ambulances and police cars responded. The Annapolis Fire Department and the BWI Airport Fire & Rescue Department provided mutual aid. There are no longer any firefighters on the scene.

Patch also saw multiple BGE trucks and two tractor-trailers labeled "sewage only" on the scene.

The DPW spill map does not show any sewage leaks stemming from the explosion.

There were no visible flames, but Macallair said crews ventilated the smoke from the area.

Patch spoke with several bystanders watching the scene unfold. All declined to be interviewed on the record, but none of them heard a boom.

Piney Orchard Parkway was temporarily closed starting at Strawberry Lake Way and continuing past where Piney Orchard Parkway turns into Patuxent Road.

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