Coal ash permit delay sought
May 6 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Timothy B. Wheeler The
Baltimore Sun
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold called on the state
Wednesday to delay approval of putting coal ash in a landfill just
across the county line in Baltimore until the federal government has
decided whether the waste should be treated as hazardous.
In a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley, Leopold urged the state to stay its
decision to issue a permit to Constellation Energy to dispose of ash
from its Baltimore-area power plants in the Hawkins Point industrial
landfill operated by Millennium Inorganic Chemical Inc. The county
executive noted that the Environmental Protection Agency announced
Tuesday that it was weighing whether to regulate coal ash as a hazardous
waste, and that the state has yet to adopt rules on transporting ash to
keep it from becoming airborne.
"There is no greater priority than protecting public health," Leopold
said.
At Leopold's urging, the Anne Arundel County Council banned ash from the
county in 2007 after officials discovered Gambrills residents' wells had
been contaminated by power-plant waste dumped at a nearby gravel pit.
The ban remains in effect.
EPA proposed treating ash as either hazardous or as a less
toxic form of industrial waste. The agency said it would take comments
for 90 days, but did not commit to when it would decide.
The Maryland Department of the Environment made a tentative
determination earlier this year to permit Constellation's ash disposal
on a portion of the 65-acre landfill. But environmental activists and
residents spoke against it in March. MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said the
agency is still reviewing comments and has no timeline for deciding on
the permit.
Constellation now provides about 60 percent of the ash from its Brandon
Shores, C.P. Crane and H.A. Wagner power plants to be used in making
concrete and other building materials. The rest is trucked to a landfill
in Virginia. Constellation spokesman Kevin Thornton has said if the
company is allowed to bury ash at Hawkins Point, it intends to comply
with whatever state and federal rules get adopted.
Tim.wheeler@baltsun.com
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