Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold said yesterday he will seek legislation to extend a ban on the dumping of fly ash in the county until October 2009.
The ban ends in October of this year, and Leopold said that fly ash previously dumped by Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. in a Gambrills pit continues to pose health risks.
Fly ash is a byproduct of burning coal and is captured by special equipment in the chimneys of power plants.
Constellation Energy, of which BGE is a subsidiary, worked with a contractor to dump 800,000 of tons of waste ash for 12 years ending in 2007 from its Brandon Shores coal-fired power plant into an unlined former grave
County tests found that 23 wells in the area tested positive for dangerous metals such as arsenic, cadmium and thallium, all components of ash from smokestacks.
On Oct. 1, the Maryland Department of the Environment imposed a $1 million fine on Constellation and the contractor, BBSS Inc. and ordered them to clean up the contamination. The County Council on that same date banned the dumping of waste ash in the county for one year.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Damn whats so different than dumping thous and thous gals of sewage in the Wicomico River by Salsibury WWTP? Maybe a million dollar fine to the city would help.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should tell DELDOT to stop using that stuff. We hauled tons and tons and tons of it up to Dover when they were building RT 1.
ReplyDeleteWell guess you didnt know.
ReplyDeleteThere is over 500,000 yes over a half a million tons of fly ash at the wicomico county landfill. They covered it as fast as they could.