The Maryland Department of the Environment will hold its first public hearing today in Baltimore City on new regulations for the disposal of coal fly ash, the byproduct of coal power plants.
The regulations are the first for how to use material to fill former sand and gravel mines. Ash from Constellation Energy power plants has been blamed for contaminating private wells surrounding two former mines in Gambrills in Anne Arundel.
Madonna Brennan, co-chairwoman of Crofton First, an activist group in Anne Arundel that held a public forum recently on fly ash, spoke to The Examiner about fly ash?s impact on the community and the new regulations.
What came out of the forum your group held?
The most important thing, I think, that came out of the forum was that citizens feel like they?re completely left out of the process. People are scared. I?ve been to meetings where I?ve heard residents? stories that have made me cry.
We all agreed that the public hearing on the regulations should be moved to a more convenient location.
And we have received word [from MDE] that it is considering another hearing closer to us.
Why do people feel left out of the process?
During the whole consent decree process [in which Constellation Energy and MDE agreed on a $1 million fine and how to clean up the site], no public opinion was sought.
How are you going to protect people if you don?t talk to the people you?re protecting?
If somebody had talked to the people, there might have been a different consent decree.
Are the proposed regulations enough?
It?s a good start. … I?m not a technical person, but it doesn?t address the airborne [fly ash], which is a big concern of the community. …
There needs to be a way people in the community can have confidence to wake up and not be like the people in Gambrills with water and airborne contaminations.
