Maryland Sea Grant showcases our Middle Branch work as a national model for urban coastal restoration and environmental justice
An article in the latest Chesapeake Quarterly puts our work on the Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative (MBRI) on the national stage. In “A Marsh Grows in Brooklyn,” writer Ashley Goetz tells the full story of how, as part of Maryland’s largest coastal resilience initiative, we’re restoring 50+ acres of habitat along 11 miles of Baltimore’s forgotten waterfront, starting with fire-damaged logs from Camp Small.
Turning Problems Into Solutions
When fire destroyed nearly 10,000 tons of logs at Baltimore’s Camp Small tree recycling facility in December, most saw a disaster. We saw an opportunity. Those charred logs are now anchoring the Hanover Street Wetlands, forming the structural backbone of our 7-acre engineered marsh which serves as a critical piece of Reimagine Middle Branch (RMB), a sweeping effort to reconnect South Baltimore’s neighborhoods to the Patapsco River.
As our engineer Andrew Forbes tells the magazine: “It’s been a great opportunity for us to work with the city and keep those logs out of the waste stream.” This pivot from waste to resource kept material out of landfills, helped Camp Small recover, and advanced our construction timeline without delays.
That’s how our GreenVest team works: we don’t just adapt to challenges, we transform them into solutions.
More information about our partnership with Camp Small and its ecological and community benefits can be found on our blog and in The Baltimore Sun.
Environmental Justice, Not Just Restoration
The MBRI is significantly more than a restoration project. During the industrial revolution, South Baltimore lost 90-95% of the wetlands in Middle Branch and polluting facilities were often sited next to communities like Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, and Curtis Bay. Neighborhood fragmentation and environmental harm became commonplace, along with the attendant negative impacts on human health and well-being.
Today, we’re helping to address some of those injustices by not only restoring habitat, but also restoring community access to the waterfront that was historically available to the people who live there. The RMB includes walking trails, kayak launches, fishing piers, and safer connections between neighborhoods that have been cut off from their own shoreline for decades. As Jazmin Kimball, southern district planner for Baltimore City’s Department of Planning, states, “The core of the project is connectivity—connecting the communities to each other, connecting them to the waterfront, and connecting them to the parks.” GreenVest is proud to be facilitating these connections as we restore the landscape and integrate it with public amenities.
Engineering a Positive Impact
From a technical standpoint, our urban marsh design and construction efforts are building a sophisticated living system from the ground up. The foundation alone requires 15,000 tons of stone, with about half settling into the soft river sediment to support the marsh’s weight. Engineered synthetic textiles create separation between sand and stone layers, allowing materials to settle evenly while maintaining structural integrity. Our settlement monitoring plates track subsidence rates, initially several tenths of a foot per week, now down to hundredths as the system stabilizes. Additionally, the salvaged Camp Small logs aren’t just salvage success stories—they’re strategically embedded throughout the marsh to add structural stability, sequester carbon, and create woody habitat for wildlife.
When incorporated into the mosaic of restored high and low marsh, these elements create a self-sustaining ecosystem that can adapt to sea level rise while reducing storm surge and filtering stormwater runoff. This isn’t traditional restoration, it’s precision engineering that proves large-scale urban wetland construction can deliver both ecological function and community benefits.
Recognition That Matters
Being featured in Maryland Sea Grant’s flagship publication means the Mid-Atlantic restoration community is paying attention, and rightfully so. This project is just the latest example of how our fixed-price, full-delivery approach can tackle the challenges that matter most.
What’s Next
Construction on Hanover Street Wetlands wraps up this summer, with the Patapsco Delta East Project following closely behind. Multiple additional MBRI sites are well underway, including the MedStar Harbor Hospital Wetlands, which will break ground later this year. Following construction completion, 10 years of maintenance and monitoring will ensure proper system function and track impacts on coastal resilience, water quality, and aquatic habitat; this data will inform urban restoration efforts in the Chesapeake watershed and beyond.
As the article concludes: “As construction wraps up and stewardship begins, the Hanover Street Wetland represents a greener future for South Baltimore. The salvaged logs anchoring the shoreline remind us that resilience here is rooted in what endures: the people, the history, and the lasting connection to the water.”
We don’t just restore ecosystems. We restore communities.
Thank you to Maryland Sea Grant and Chesapeake Quarterly for the feature!
Read the complete feature at chesapeakequarterly.net/V24N1. Learn more about our recent work at greenvestus.com/our-projects or contact us at action@greenvestus.com.
