Flaking orange paint from the 28th Street Bridge is littering Falls Road and the Jones Falls
The chips resemble the lead paint flakes that fell in 2022 from Baltimore’s TV Tower. City officials do not believe they contain lead, but MDE is now testing them.
Above: How the Jones Falls Trail below the 28th Street Bridge looked this past week: strewn with orange paint flakes. (Fern Shen)
Walk along Falls Road below the 28th Street Bridge and, looking down, you’ll see flakes of orange paint everywhere.
Draped in the bushes, resting on the crusty snow, pulverized on the roadway, sprinkled along the bike trail and floating in the chilly waters of the Jones Falls.
Look up and you’ll see where those flakes – some of them peels the size of your forearm – most likely came from: the bridge itself.
Pieces of whitish paint are peeling away, revealing a bright orange underside. That’s what the flakes on the ground look like – orange on one side, white on the other.
Alerted by The Brew, Alice Volpitta, Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper for Blue Water Baltimore, went to check out what could be seen at the spot, roughly between the Potts & Callahan facility at 2801 Falls Road and the Baltimore Department of Transportation (DOT) maintenance yard at 2601 Falls Road.
She was struck by the extent of it.
“There’s a good amount of it, and it’s all still stuck everywhere,” Volpitta said on Thursday. “As you get closer to the embankment near Potts & Callahan, it gets worse and worse.”
Volpitta stressed that it is unclear whether the paint contains lead, which is known to be hazardous to human health.
Taking photos and paint samples, she alerted the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to the presence of the paint flakes. As did The Brew.
“Blue Water Baltimore contacted us, and we are looking into it,” MDE spokesman Jay Apperson confirmed in an email.
Pulverized orange paint floats in a puddle below the bridge, and BELOW a paint chip collected along Falls Road. (Fern Shen)
Orange flakes can be seen on the Jones Falls Trail that runs between the roadway and stream bank. Though filled with snow now, it is a popular path for birdwatchers, bikers and joggers.
Volpitta, whose watchdog group is focused on the health of local watersheds, said she was most worried about the potential impact of the paint chips – if they turn out to contain lead or other hazardous material – on the Jones Falls itself.
“My main concern is about waterway pollution and waterway contamination” – Alice Volpitta, Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper.
“My main concern is about waterway pollution and waterway contamination,” she said. “I need to do some digging to figure out what impacts lead paint chips actually have on surface waters, such as how soluble are they?”
Paint peeling off the 28th Street Bridge, and. BELOW two sides of the same paint chip. (Fern Shen)
DOT: No Cause for Alarm
City officials said they do not believe there is any lead paint hazard from the chips.
“This structure was originally constructed in 1961 and underwent a full rehabilitation and repainting in 1988,” DOT spokeswoman Kathy Dominick said in an email.
“Because the use of lead-based paint was discontinued in 1979, there are no lead-related concerns regarding this structure,” she continued.
The 65-year-old bridge was last repainted in 1988, says DOT, or several years after lead-based paint was discontinued.
Asked why so many flakes are falling, she said, “While the high-performance paint used is designed for harsh environments, natural weathering, including vehicle emissions and extreme temperature fluctuations, can lead to standard peeling and flaking over time.”
Volpitta said she is looking to MDE to make a definitive determination on whether the flakes contain lead or pose a health or environmental hazard.
Yesterday an MDE staffer was found on Falls Road photographing the scene and collecting samples.
Paint chips near and in the Jones Falls, which flows into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. (Fern Shen)
Chips that Rained Down on Woodberry
It’s no surprise that MDE is taking the report seriously. In 2022, an eerily similar situation – peeling orange paint flakes – took place about a mile north in the Woodberry neighborhood below the “candelabra” television tower on TV Hill.
A crew power washing the structure had failed to take precautions, and chips – which did test positive for lead – turned up in backyards, streets, a playground and a daycare center.
The lawsuits and criminal charges that followed were covered extensively by The Brew:
• Residents in Woodberry alarmed after paint flakes from TV tower rain down on yards and streets (6/21/22).
• Residents balk as MDE and TTI suggest bringing back the company that sent lead paint flakes onto Woodberry (8/10/22)
• MDE sues TV stations and contractor over lead paint flakes that fell from TV Hill (5/5/23)
• Woodberry residents sue TV tower owner over lead flake release (5/11/23)
• Company that sent lead paint chips down onto TV Hill pleads guilty, is fined $50,000 (12/10/25).