You Gotta Know When to Sue 'Em...

Late last week, the Capital reported that the South River Federation had reached a settlement with the developers of Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole over their discharge of sediment-laden water into the River during construction. The lawsuit claimed that the development project had violated the Clean Water Act by allowing the pollution of Church Creek as a result of stormwater runoff.

Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., the group developing the site, denied the allegations, but agreed to pay $120,000 to repair damage to the creek, monitor the site for future compliance, and legal fees.

Potomac Tests Bode Ill for Local Waterways

Today's Post reports that man made pesticides, herbicides and fragrances are making their way into the Potomac River and wreaking havoc on the hormone systems of aquatic life.

The River is so polluted with hormone disrupting chemicals that some male fish have begun to produce eggs.

This report comes on the heels of last week's release that 56 human and veterinary pharmaceuticals were detected in Philadelphia's drinking water, unable to be filtered out through conventional processes.

How is it that we can tolerate this?

Judge Charged with Illegal Dumping

Doug Gansler, Maryland's Attorney General, has joined Anne Arundel County in filing charges against Baltimore City District Judge Askew Gatewood, claiming that the Judge unlawfully dumped material into a wetland, undertook construction without a sediment control plan, and caused water pollution.

The charges stem from accusations that between Oct. 1, 2006, and Jan. 20, 2007 some 40 truckloads of construction debris, including, masonry rubble, asphalt, broken bathroom fixtures, electrical wiring, chunks of concrete and fine dust, were dumped along the Judge's 470 feet of shoreline.

To be fair, the Judge hasn't been convicted yet, but I'm quite skeptical that both the County and State would be so aggressive on this if they didn't think they had a strong case. If, however, he is convicted, the saddest thing about this whole incident is that a man who owns a $1.2+ million home (shown below), located essentially right on the Bay is so cheap, and so brazen, that he would take $10,000 worth of construction trash and dump it into the Patapsco River rather than dispose of the trash properly, and pay someone to repair the shoreline responsibly.


8401 Bay Road, Pasadena, MD

A Brief History of the Ratrie Property

A review of the Fourth Circuit decision in Crofton Ventures v. G & H Partnership (2001) has an extensive description of the property that adjoins the County trail segment through Odenton.

Initially, the property was intended to be 32 acres peeled off from an existing 55-acre tract of land owned by Harry and Dahlia Ratrie, and was going to be used as a location to store totaled cars and sell their parts.¹ The property was sold in 1991 with the previous owners affirming that, to the best of their knowledge, no hazardous waste had been stored on the property.

In 1995, when Crofton Ventures began to develop the property, they quickly found a waste dump that contained 285 fully or partially buried 55-gallon drums of various offensive substances, most notably Trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent and known carcinogen. Sampling confirmed "high levels" of TCE in the soil and groundwater at the site.

Turns out, the location had previously been an asphalt plant, and that the drums, which contained a mixture of asphalt and TCE (a solvent to test asphalt) were almost certainly stored on the property as part of the operation. Though Mr. Ratrie was owner of the property during at least part of the time when TCE was dumped, he denied knowledge of the dumping in court. Conveniently, no record of the drums' disposal turned up.

Upon discovering the drums, Crofton Ventures "cleaned up the site."

The question that remains in my mind is, what, if any, pollutants remain on the site, and how many more of these silent time bombs lay buried in our abandoned mine sites?

¹ This activity will be the subject of a future post.

BREAKING NEWS: Odenton Dump Just the Tip of the Trashberg

Several new facts have come to light since Sunday's story on the plastic dump just "recently discovered" along the right-of-way for the WB&A Trail connecting the Anne Arundel County system to the trailhead in Prince George's County.

First, contrary to the claims of officials quoted in the Capital article, that the dump was only recently discovered, it has been confirmed that the existence of the site has been known for quite some time, and that steps were not taken to address it sooner.

In addition, the manner in which the current clean-up was handled, apparently without the involvement of the proper regulatory authorities, such as MDE, may prevent the County from being able to file a criminal complaint against the prior owners of the property, Piney Orchard Master Partnership, a subsidiary of Constellation Energy Group.

To make matters worse, there is now word that an adjacent property, a former sand and gravel mine, is currently home to an unknown quantity of 55-gallon drums of fluid, currently leaching into the Little Patuxent River. The property is the site of the now infamous Crofton Ventures Limited Partnership v. G & H Partnership case [pdf].

More to come....

WB&A Trail Extension Opening Delayed

Ask anyone who lives in Anne Arundel County, particularly anyone who lives along the Route 2 corridor, what they think of the WB&A Trail, and chances are, they think it's a tremendous community resource. Sure, there were initially reservations about whether or not it would bring "unsavory" elements into the neighborhoods that abut the trail, but those concerns were largely unfounded.

An extension from Odenton to Bowie, which will connect the Anne Arundel and Prince George's County trails, is now nearly complete. The opening of the final segment, which includes a footbridge over the Little Patuxent River, is now being held up, in part, because of an enormous dump site of plastic waste adjacent to the trail. The County has already spent $47,000 removing 230 tons of plastic from the site, but several hundred more tons still remain. At least some of the plastic trash bears the logo of Nevamar, a plastic manufacturer that was based in Odenton from 1943 to 2004.

Let's hope the County pursues compensation for these remediation efforts if a culprit can be pinpointed. And, kudos to the County for pursuing this expansion of our well-traveled trail network.

Below is a map of the Anne Arundel County portion of trail's current configuration.



UPDATE: Sun coverage.

Whole Foods Bags Plastics

Despite a public relations campaign that extended to interviews with the highest echelons of the national press, Annapolis Alderman Sam Shropshire was unable to muster the votes necessary to get his plastic bag ban bill passed in the Annapolis City Council. At the same time, however, the Whole Foods in Annapolis voluntarily stopped offering plastic bags.

Now, the entire corporation is looking to phase out plastic bags by early 2008. The company will still offer 100% recycled content paper bags and will sell reusable "Better Bags", made from 80% recycled plastic bottles.

The move represents a welcome trend in the retail sector, to move away from disposable bags and packaging to reusable materials. Other retailers, such as Ikea, are now charging customers 5 cents per bag.

Surely, there are those who will object to such a move, claiming that it limits their choices unfairly, or that they got good use out of those plastic bags. And there may be some truth to that, but there is no good reason that all consumers, particularly those who bring their own satchels, should be subsidizing the cost of everyone else's "doggy bags."

Bay Clean-Up Estimates Too Optimistic, If You Can Believe It

A recent analysis of Bay pollution reduction models by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) found that half (18) over-estimated progress, most of the rest (15) were accurate, and a few more (3) under-estimated progress. I suspect this isn't much of a surprise to anyone who has spent any prolonged length of time around the Bay in the last decade or so. Despite undeniable and important advances (e.g, the flush fee), the region continues to grow astronomically, with ever-changing consequences.

The Program models seem to be relatively accurate in the case of point source pollution (e.g., sewage treatment plants), where a discrete discharge can be easily measured, but pollution from non-point sources, like farm fields, or septic systems is difficult to accurately gauge. In those instances, data from case studies has to be extrapolated to a much wider set of circumstances, and errors in the case study, or the appropriateness of the wider application, can skew the results wildly.

To reduce the margin of error in the models, CBP is doing experimental work on a number of pollution controls and best management practices. That data should be available by the end of 2008.

Lawsuit Filed in Fly Ash Case

On Friday, the Sun reported that one of the families in Gambrills that has been affected by the toxic groundwater plume caused by fly ash contamination has filed suit against Constellation Energy, claiming the contaminated water killed her husband. It's a good first step. Litigation against MDE and the Anne Arundel County Health Department for criminal negligence and the sand mine for its complicity should probably be considered as well.

It's unfortunate, but too often legal action is the only way to move corporate or government entities to do the right thing.

County Takes Action to Stop Poisoning of Wells

Executive Leopold has introduced emergency legislation to stop a practice that has been decried on this site a number of times, the storage of fly ash in soils where it can leech into groundwater.

Fly ash, a particularly nasty by-product of burning coal, is an amalgam of goodies, often including such heavy metals as: nickel, vanadium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, barium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, zinc, lead, selenium, uranium, thorium, and radium. Earlier this year, the EPA released a report on the potential dangers of fly ash to human health.

The legislation would prohibit the disposal of fly ash anywhere in the County. Let's hope it passes unanimously.

Return of the Dead Zone

Today's Capital reports that there are several indications that the Bay's "dead zones", areas of low or no oxygen caused by nutrient pollution, have returned.

Water Quality Bad, Air Quality Worse

The latest news from the American Lung Association is pretty grim. We earned an "F" for ozone and particle pollution.

Anne Arundel County Report Card

Washing Our Hands of Phosphorus

This week the House of Delegates passed a bill phasing out the use of phosphorus in dishwashing detergents. If passed in the Senate and signed by the Governor (who says he will sign the bill), Maryland will join Washington state in being the only states to require phosphate-free detergent (so far).

Flush Fee Funds Available for Septic Upgrades

It's been talked about for several years since the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund was initially passed. Now, it's apparently here. The County has money raised through the so-called "flush fee" to help homeowners offset the cost of upgrading to environmentally-friendly de-nitrifying septic systems. For more information, contact Anne Arundel’s Sanitary Engineering Program, 410-222-7193.

Economic Analysis of Healthy Air Act Released

The bill, passed during the 2005 legislative session, required that an economic analysis of the impacts be done. The report [pdf] has just been released. Key findings (via the Capital):

"By joining the program, Maryland would cut emissions by about 10 percent. From 2010 to 2025, that would amount to 60 million tons less in carbon dioxide emissions."

"Profits from making electricity would decrease by 13 percent in 2010 and by 12 percent in 2025. Individual company breakdowns weren't calculated."

"Electricity demand would decrease by 1.5 percent in 2010 and by 3 percent in 2025. That leads to average annual residential electricity bills dropping $22 in 2010. The price of electricity wouldn't be affected."

"There would be a minor positive effect on the overall state economy."

More Well Tests, More Heavy Metals

Having found dangerously high levels of heavy metals in wells in Gambrills and Crofton, the Health Department is now expanding its testing effort into Odenton. As has been discussed here previously, well tests in west Anne Arundel have revealed elevated levels of arsenic, cadmium, and thallium in the water there.

Just for some context. Here's a map of the Constellation fly ash site, the Magothy aquifer, and the surrounding area.

Parole Site Pollutes Church Creek...Again

Today's Capital reports that the the Parole Towne Center is once again the source of serious sediment loading into Church Creek, a tributary of the South River.

While pumping out a sediment control pond, a contractor on the site failed to use the proper filtration devices to prevent muddy water from leaving the project area. While the "de-watering" operation was halted as soon as the South Riverkeeper gave County inspectors notification that the violation was occuring, the contractor, Reliable, was given a $500 fine, a slap on the wrist.

Both Greenberg-Gibbons, the developer, and Reliable, the contractor claim not to be responsible. Greenberg-Gibbons' Senior Vice President Kim Potember claimed, "We did not see what the county saw. We did not see the overflow ... We don't agree with the reason the fine was levied."

Perhaps they didn't see it because they don't have their own environmental inspector on site monitoring such activities.

Reliable President, Jay Baldwin was in similar disbelief: "We are not sure the county has all the facts. We treated the pond that was being drained. Our guys were watching the operation and the water was not going over the bio-filter. No water was going into that outfall."

This has only happened 3 or 5 times before. Surely it's a case of mistaken identity.

The developers are touting this leaky site as "state-of-the-art," the County is promising to crack down on environmental offenders (and levying piddling fines), and the Riverkeepers are doing the job of County inspectors. There are many things wrong with this picture. John Leopold is currently the only person in the County with the capacity to correct all three.

Severn Becomes Poster-Child for Aquatic Damage

A report in today's Post describes how local biologists are using the Severn River as a cautionary tale about the environmental degradation that occurs when watersheds are overdeveloped.

West County Wells Reveal More Heavy Metals

Since finding high levels of heavy metal in several wells in the Gambrills area earlier in the year, the Health Department has now found lead levels above federal standards in three other nearby wells.

So, what happens next? The County expands the testing zone a bit more, and is looking to sample 25 more wells in the Crofton and Gambrills areas. Meanwhile, nearby residents continue to drink from wells that are likely poisoned.

Where are the metals coming from? Surprise, surprise:

"The cause of the high lead levels has not been determined, but the wells are situated in path of groundwater that flows from a fly ash landfill site operated by the Reliable Contracting Co. Inc. and Constellation Energy Group at the BBSS Sand and Gravel Mine."

It was certainly a brilliant idea to stockpile the groundwater re-charge area for much of Anne Arundel County with persistent poisons. I, for one, would not be surprised to see the presence of these heavy metals in wells considerably beyond the area currently being tested.

The Capital's piece on the situation also reveals that rather than testing wells proactively, the County only tests them reactively, such as when a private owner alerts them to a problem. The County Health Officer, Frances Phillips, is apparently just beginning to get a clue, "This experience ... really does raise concern that we have to have a good understanding of what is in our groundwater. We really don’t have good data." You would think a lack of "good data" on potable water quality might be something that would have alarmed the Health Officer well in advance of this looming disaster, no?

Healthy Air Act Spurs 2 Local Upgrades

As a result of the Healthy Air Act, passed during the last legislative session, Constellation Energy will be required to upgrade its Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner power plants in Pasadena. The legislation requires coal-burning plants in the state to dramatically reduce nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and mercury emissions.

Constellation is aiming to have the multi-million dollar upgrades completed by 2010.

It's good to see the impacts of such progressive, environmental legislation as the Healthy Air Act and Flush Fee making an important difference in Anne Arundel County.