Constellation Energy may dig more monitoring wells to see whether a plume of contaminated groundwater in Gambrills is getting better or worse.
Eight new monitoring wells could be dug south and east of the pits where 4 million tons of coal fly ash has been dumped, according to a November analysis done by the power supplier.
The ash has been blamed for contaminating dozens of wells around the dump sites, located near Route 3 and Waugh Chapel Road, with cancer-causing heavy metals. The new wellswould monitor the level and growth of the contamination, the report said.
The analysis is part of a Maryland Department of the Environment mandate for Constellation Energy, owner of the fly ash, and BBSS Inc., owner of the mining operation in Gambrills where the fly ash was dumped.
The analysis lays out options Constellation Energy could take to help stop contamination that could have started as early as 1999. The contamination didn?t become public until 2006.
MDE spokesman Robert Ballinger said both Constellation Energy and BBSS are complying with the consent decree.
The report also calls for the monitoring of private wells. One of those wells could be at 1188 Summerfield Road, which tested over the federally prescribed safe limits for cadmium, thallium, beryllium, aluminum, manganese and sulfate – substances that can lead to cancer and neurological diseases. The well also showed levels of arsenic.
Constellation Energy is being sued by a Gambrills resident, part of a class-action suit calling for a cleanup of the site and damages for the residents.
“We can?t have too much testing or evaluation of the water, air and soil,” said the plaintiff?s attorney, Roy Mason. “Once we get an extent of how far the [contamination] plume goes, we can then begin to measurethe impact on the community.”
