Maryland

Heatwaves are making people sick. Is Maryland’s work safety agency watching?

Published

2 years ago

August 9, 2024

Heatwaves are making people sick. Is Maryland’s work safety agency watching?

Alvin Scott made a habit of covering the shifts of fellow solid waste workers who were struck down by summer heat.

The former Department of Public Works employee said he watched people suffer strokes, fainting, vomiting and severe dehydration — all to survive a day of tossing trash in the back of a truck.

In Scott’s six years picking up waste for the Eastern Sanitation Yard on Bowleys Lane, he said he could not recall his employer providing water or time for breaks on hot days. So when he heard last Friday that 36-year-old Ronald Silver II died of heatstroke while picking up waste along an afternoon route, Scott was not surprised.

“It’s one of those jobs where they don’t care about you out there,” said Scott, who said he left DPW in 2019 due to an injury. “You pass out and they would go get another man.”

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This year, more than 1,000 Marylanders have sought medical assistance for heat-related illness. Emergency room and urgent care visits for heatstroke, heat exhaustion and hyperthermia are the highest recorded in the last five years, according to the health department.

Yet, since 2019, the Maryland agency responsible for investigating unsafe work environments initiated only 32 inspections into employers reported for heat stress-related issues, according to data obtained by The Baltimore Banner.

The absence of inspections does not mean employees spent the last five years unaffected by heat exposure, said Devki Virk, commissioner of Maryland’s Division of Labor and Industry, which oversees the state’s Occupational Safety and Health agency (MOSH). It only means they have not received a report, she said.

The Department of Labor was unable to provide numbers on how many reports of heat-related concerns MOSH has received since 2019. Reports are submitted from a wide variety of sources, from federal partners to phone calls and emails, Virk said.

Employers are only required to report incidents that violate safety standards to MOSH. But until this summer, Maryland had not proposed rules identifying the heat-related hazards likely to harm workers.

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Multiple experts say the lack of safety enforcement by the state agency stems from years of neglect under former Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration. When Gov. Wes Moore inherited the agency in 2023, about 28% of staff positions had been left vacant. While Moore’s administration tried to rebuild — reducing vacancies, raising penalties on employers violating workers’ safety and pushing standards on workforce heat protection — the agency remains strapped for resources.

Stuart Katzenberg, director of growth and collective bargaining for AFSCME Council 3, called the lack of MOSH inspections “terribly disappointing.” His group, along with city council members and Moore, have called for an investigation into the death of Silver. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on Wednesday acknowledged problems within DPW and promised to hold those responsible for harming employees to account.

Katzenberg described MOSH under Hogan as “hollowed out.” The former governor created an eight-year barrier to implementing heat protections, Katzenberg said. In Hogan’s first year in office, the number of formal complaints investigated by MOSH dropped from 106 to 92. That number later dipped to levels lower than those under previous Gov. Martin O’Malley or Moore, falling to 72 in 2019 and diving another 29% the following year, according to state budget plans.

Michael Ricci, a representative for Hogan, said the administration deeply appreciated the work of employees who helped navigate turnover in the agency resulting from the pandemic. He cited a report issued by the state agency that showed MOSH meeting the majority of their inspection enforcement goals and their fatality inspection goals.

There are five fewer safety compliance officers and three fewer inspectors than needed to match the standards set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration agency, according to a federal review of MOSH. The review also discovered staff failed to respond to complaints of serious safety violations filed using Maryland’s online reporting forum between October 2022 though September 2023.

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Attracting workers and retaining them have been chronic issues, said Jamie Mangrum, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor. She did not comment on how the vacancies are affecting MOSH’s ability to investigate employers.

Only one of the 32 heat-related inspections carried out by MOSH since 2019 involved waste management, with the majority targeting food service industries, according to Department of Labor data.

A bill passing through the state legislature aims to set an enforceable heat standard, as do rules published in the state register last week. The proposed changes set a baseline for what employers must provide to protect workers, including at least 32 ounces of water per day at no cost, access to shaded rest areas and at least ten minute breaks every two hours spent working in temperatures over 90 degreest.

The rules will go through a 30-day comment period, which then leaves commissioner Virk 16 days to revise them before they are adopted.

The rules also give employers options for meeting the new benchmarks. Acclimatization plans to help workers adapt to the temperature can either be a mix of cooling measures or a gradual rise in their time spent in heat. Health care professionals and labor advocates participated in drafting the minimum requirements to keep sites cool, and give both inspectors and workers a standard barometer on what qualifies as a safety violation, Virk said.

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The Maryland rules as currently stated are more aggressive than the heat standards proposed by the OSHA in recent weeks, according to Debbie Berkowitz, a now retired senior policy advisor and chief of staff for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It will hopefully be finalized faster, she said, as the federal proposals are likely years away from being implemented.

“I’m sad we didn’t have this standard already because maybe [Silver’s] death would have been prevented,” Berkowitz said.

Despite efforts to improve safety, workers are doubtful that conditions will change. Two recent reports by the Baltimore inspector general revealed dilapidated water fountains, bathrooms and air conditioners within Public Works facilities, including the former workplaces of both Silver and Scott.

Scott said he tried to report the issues he saw to supervisors more than once. It’s unclear to him whether changes were made.

The Department of Public Works did not respond to requests for comment.

Looking back, Scott said he got out of the yard relatively unscathed, with one injury from falling off a truck. On hot days, he still remembers the older men inside the Bowleys Lane locker room, dizzy from the heat. He wonders if they will ever find a way to cool down.

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Maryland

Maryland high court rejects municipal climate change damages suit

Published

9 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Maryland high court rejects municipal climate change damages suit

Maryland’s highest court on Tuesday dismissed several local government claims to recover damages against several large energy companies for harm created by climate change, finding that federal law preempts the case and state law does not support it.

The case dates to 2018, when the city of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against the energy companies, alleging that their decades-long activities contributed to climate-related damages to the city. Anne Arundel County and Annapolis filed similar lawsuits. After a number of procedural disputes over several years, in part over federal jurisdiction and venue, the case arrived in Maryland state courts and consolidated on appeal.

In a consolidated decision, Maryland’s Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of the local government suits against the energy companies. Plaintiffs had alleged that the companies contributed to climate change through the production and promotion of fossil fuels, asserting state law claims including public nuisance, trespass, and failure to warn.

The court determined that state claims were displaced by federal common law regarding interstate pollution and further preempted by federal legislation, including the Clean Air Act. According to the court, allowing state tort actions to go forward would interfere with a comprehensive federal regulatory scheme regarding greenhouse gases.

The court also found that even if these claims were not preempted, they would not succeed on other grounds. The court emphasized the difficulty in proving causation between large scale activity’s localized effects and concerns regarding the timing of the alleged injuries.

The decision is a substantial roadblock for state and local governments looking to recover costs related to climate change. It is also one in a growing line of case law that limits state court ability to address global emissions.

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Maryland

Gas prices surge in Maryland, provoking debate on what to do about it

Published

21 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Gas prices surge in Maryland, provoking debate on what to do about it

Gas prices in Maryland are rising following joint U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran.
The average price for gasoline in Maryland has reached $3.86 per gallon, an increase of over 25 cents in the last week.
Maryland officials are debating a potential gas tax suspension to provide relief to consumers.

Gas prices are surging in Maryland, and state officials are beginning to weigh in on a potential gas tax suspension.

The price jump occured after the United States and Israel launched joint military strikes against Iran beginning on Feb. 28, 2026.

Average gasoline prices in Maryland have risen 25.2 cents per gallon within the last week, now averaging $3.86/g, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 2,167 stations in the state.

Prices in Maryland are 87.7 cents per gallon higher than one month ago, and stand 85.1 cents per gallon higher than one year ago, GasBuddy shared.

As of March 25, gas prices in Salisbury are between $3.73/g and $3.99/g. The current lowest reported cost, $3.73/g, was found at Sam’s Club at 2700 North Salisbury Boulevard.

“Gas prices continued to rise nationwide over the last week as seasonal factors, combined with ongoing supply concerns tied to the continued disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, pushed both gasoline and diesel prices sharply higher,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said.

“It now appears increasingly likely that the national average price of gasoline will reach the $4-per-gallon mark — potentially as early as this week — for the first time since 2022, while diesel prices are surging to multi-year highs, with some markets nearing record territory,” De Haan continued.

Gas price averages in Maryland over the last five years

Here’s a closer look at the historical gasoline prices in Maryland and the national average within the last five years, according to GasBuddy:

March 23, 2025: $3.00/g (U.S. Average: $3.08/g)
March 23, 2024: $3.56/g (U.S. Average: $3.53/g)
March 23, 2023: $3.26/g (U.S. Average: $3.42/g)
March 23, 2022: $3.79/g (U.S. Average: $4.23/g)
March 23, 2021: $2.84/g (U.S. Average: $2.86/g)

Will Maryland suspend its gas tax? Officials weigh in

Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Maryland Govenor Wes Moore, weighed in on the state’s potential gas tax suspension:

“Marylanders need real relief, not a 30-day gas tax suspension that would blow a $100 million hole in our transportation budget at the same time we’re working to close Maryland’s budget shortfall. If Maryland Republicans are serious about lowering costs, they should pick up the phone and call Donald Trump and tell him to end this missionless war — instead of asking Maryland taxpayers to help pay for it.

“This war is costing more than a billion dollars a day and driving up the price of oil, fuel, and everyday goods. The best way to bring prices down is to address the source of the pain, not shift the cost of Donald Trump’s war onto Maryland families.”

Nicole Beus Harris, Chairwoman of the Maryland Republican Party, shared her thoughts next with Delmarva Now:

“We know Wes Moore thinks about the White House 24/7, but his responsibility, just like Republicans in the General Assembly, is to make state policy. A temporary pause of the state gas tax is a commonsense solution to this temporary crisis, but we’ll never see meaningful tax relief under this Governor.”

Are other states suspending their gas tax to cut prices?

As of March 2026, Georgia has become the first and only state to temporarily suspend its gas tax.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, suspended the state’s motor fuel tax for 60 days on March 20. The excise tax on gasoline is currently 33.3 cents per gallon, and a few cents higher on diesel, USA Today reported.

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.

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Maryland

Rachel Morin’s mother criticizes Gov. Moore for opposing ICE detention center in Maryland

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Rachel Morin’s mother criticizes Gov. Moore for opposing ICE detention center in Maryland

MARYLAND (WBFF) — A legal fight is underway in Washington County over plans to convert a warehouse into an immigration detention center, with Gov. Wes Moore opposing the project and securing a temporary pause in construction.

The Trump administration wants to convert the warehouse into an immigration detention center. Moore has taken the issue to court and obtained a temporary halt. In a public service announcement, Moore called the center “concerning.”

“This is being done without transparency, without public input or accountability. And it’s raising serious concerns from Marylanders, all across our state,” Moore said.

ALSO READ | What’s next for the planned immigration detention center near Hagerstown?

Not all Marylanders agree. Patty Morin criticized Moore on social media and said he is out of touch, also speaking with FOX45 News about her concerns.

“First off, I was just really angry because he is misrepresenting the people of Maryland,” Morin said.

“Last time I looked, statistics said 1.3 million immigrants in Maryland. And you know that some of those are here illegally,” Morin said.

Morin’s daughter, Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was killed by an illegal immigrant in Harford County in August of 2023.

Moore said his administration is prioritizing residents’ concerns as the federal government moves forward.

“While the Trump administration is moving forward without any consideration for Marylanders, we’re putting your concerns front and center,” Moore said.

ALSO READ | Emergency order seeks to stop Washington County ICE detention facility construction

Morin said Moore is not listening to residents and argued the detention center is about enforcing the law, not targeting a specific group.

“He is totally politics over people. He genuinely does not care about the people of Maryland or the constituents that he represents. I all the time, Marylanders are like, what is the matter with this governor? Why is he doing this? It’s ludicrous,” Morin said.

“The very word itself, illegal means against the law or not lawful. And they have broken a federal law. Federal law supersedes state law,” Morin said.

It’s not rocket science.”

Morin also said Moore should consider all Marylanders when making decisions about the proposed facility.

“Marylanders that are here want ICE, want law enforcement to protect us. That’s what we’re paying our taxpayer dollars for. Not for a Governor Moore to go to the courts and fight this imaginary battle because he’s trying to, I don’t know, maybe make points with the Democrat party or something. He’s completely out of touch with Marylanders and it’s just, it’s very upsetting,” Morin said.

The court-ordered pause remains in effect until mid-April. Federal officials will announce next steps after the pause is lifted.

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