Anne Arundel wants to extend a ban on depositing coal fly ash in the county, but the state must be more aggressive in protecting people from possible contamination and its carcinogenic effects, said County Executive John R. Leopold.
“The most effective means of protecting the public health is a prohibition of depositing fly ash in porous soil,” he said.
“Liners [used in gravel pits where the coal fly ash is placed] aren?t always adequate in protecting.”
The Maryland Department of the Environment said Friday that it is nearly completed with new regulations for dumping fly ash, the byproduct of coal combustion at power plants that contains some metals, which have been linked to cancer after prolonged exposure.
These regulations were inspired by the discovery of several wells in Gambrills in Anne Arundel that were contaminated with metals above the federal standards when fly ash used to fill in gravel pits leached into the water table.
This incident also provoked the county to enact the current ban that expires in October.
Extending the ban for another year may be futile, said Anne Arundel Councilman Jamie Benoit, D-Crownsville.
“An extension is probably largely symbolic,” he said, referring to Constellation Energy not being allowed to deposit fly ash at the Gambrill?s site until it is cleaned. For now, the fly ash is being shipped to areas near Richmond, Va.
The MDE said Friday that no permit requests have been filed to use fly ash in Anne Arundel.
The county council banned dumping only because fly ash has safer uses, such as mixing it in with concrete and turning the material into bricks.
However, only a fraction of fly ash can be used in that manner safely. The rest is used to reclaim gravel pits and mines, as Constellation Energy and BBSS Mining Inc. was doing in Gambrills.
One of the Constellation Energy-owned power plants that produces the fly ash is in Pasadena, and a facility is there on site to turn fly ash into other uses.
Benoit and Del. James King, R-Anne Arundel, will host a public meeting Tuesday in Gambrills to have Constellation Energy publicly speak on its remediation efforts.
