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Anne Arundel: state should pay for fly ash probe
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Annapolis (Map, News) - Anne Arundel lawmakers grilled the state’s top environmental official, who said her agency would not repay the county for collecting vital data in the Gambrills coal fly ash case.
“We have a system in place [of not reimbursing local governments], and it is working well ... and changing that system could be disruptive,” Shari Wilson, secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, told the county’s delegation recently.
The delegation was considering a bill to require MDE to repay the county $108,000 for testing wells near a coal fly ash dump site in Gambrills to find possible contamination.
Some of the lawmakers wanted to know why MDE would not reimburse the county Health Department, which found dozens of wells to contain the same dangerous heavy metals found in fly ash.
“The county is being penalized for being aggressive on this,” said Republican Del. Tony McConkey, who represents the Gambrills area.
“They did your job for you.”
The well-testing data was an important factor in MDE pursuing and obtaining a $1 million fine against Constellation Energy and BBSS Mining, the operator of the mine where the ash was dumped.
Wilson said the long-standing practice has been that any fines collected by MDE go only to the state, not local governments.
Republican Del. Robert Costa asked Wilson why MDE couldn’t simply add local expenses to the fines sanctioned against violators.
She said current regulations would not allow MDE to collect money from violators that would reimburse local governments. Those agencies would have to do that for themselves through the court system.
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold’s bill before the General Assembly would require future MDE penalties to reimburse local governments who assist in investigations.
jflanagan@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
6:09 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 2, 2008 re: "Anne Arundel could extend ban on coal fly ash dumping"
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6:44 PM MST on Thu., Dec. 27, 2007
re: "Elevated aluminum levels in Gambrills raise health concerns"
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2:21 AM MST on Thu., Dec. 20, 2007
re: "State’s fly-ash crackdown part of national effort"
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1:20 PM MST on Tue., Nov. 6, 2007
re: "Fly ash no longer allowed in AA"
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Examiner Reader said:
Should children play outside in the surrounding properties from the fly ash dumping grounds ?
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Examiner Reader said:
hey smart guy.....can you point out where in the article mercury is mentioned? since you seem to be an expert in everything should only take you a nanosecond.
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Examiner Reader said:
The EPA needs a push to get it started every morning.The Administrator has just denied California's request for a waiver to enforce it's own new law limiting pollutants in that State. Mercury is only one of the heavy metals contained in fly-ash.Arsenic and sellenium and cadmium and aluninum all leach out of these unlined waste dumps.These all cause neurologic damage.
159 agree | 142 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Do Constellation Energy and government officials plan to pay for fly ash clean up in Northern AA County?
179 agree | 191 disagree
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