"No Easy Solution for Septic Problems on Maryland's Eastern Shore"

"GOLDSBORO -- 'Capture a Lake Bonnie memory,' the flier reads. Tucked away 'in the heart of the Eastern Shore,' the wooded campground in northern Caroline County offered swimming, fishing and boat rentals on a 28-acre man-made lake. It was, says owner Gail Litz, a 'home away from home' for dozens of families, many from Baltimore.

Memories are all that's left now of Lake Bonnie Campsites. The lake, the heart of the campground, was declared unfit for swimming or wading in 1996 because of sewage leaking from failing septic systems in Goldsboro, about a mile away. The Maryland Department of the Environment ordered the town to build a public sewer system or come up with an alternative to stop the pollution. The town agreed to pay fines of $100 per day if it didn't meet the deadlines or requirements of the state's consent order.

Fourteen years later, the pollution continues unchecked. No fines have been collected. The lake remains contaminated.

'You can smell it in the summer; it's horrible,' said Litz, 61. 'It's really heartbreaking.' "

Timothy B. Wheeler reports for the Baltimore Sun March 14, 2010.