County officials halted talks with the Turf Valley developer on environmental testing after they discovered tests in 2005 that found high levels of arsenic in areas of the former golf course.
“The negotiations are null and void,” Howard County Health Officer Dr. Peter Beilenson said.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Beilenson requested that developer Louis Mangione of Mangione Family Enterprises apply for the Maryland Department of the Environment?s Voluntary Clean Up Program.
And if necessary, “Iwill seek the introduction of county legislation requiring testing,” Beilenson wrote.
This notice comes nearly four months after health officials first met with the Turf Valley developers to come to an agreement.
During the negotiations, county officials learned about the 2005 tests by environmental consultant Hillis Carnes Engineering, with one sample showing 300 parts per million of arsenic near the golf course maintenance shed, Beilenson said.
Areas downhill from the shed were not tested, he said.
This testing was in addition to 13 samples from another company taken in 2005 that found low levels of arsenic.
“There needs to be further testing,” Beilenson said.
The county?s frustration stems from developers failing to disclose these results, he said. The developers could have cleaned up the problem, he said.
Now the developers need to work with the state.
The MDE is waiting to receive and review the test results from Hillis Carnes Engineering before determining “the best possible way of handling the situation,” spokesman Robert Ballinger said.
Mangione said Thursday he hadn?t see the letter and planned to review it with his consultants.
“Whatever has to be done will be done,” including a voluntary cleanup program, he said.
County Executive Ken Ulman said he was “surprised and disappointed that these results have existed for the last two years.”
Even if there is a voluntary cleanup, there may still be a need for legislation, he said.
“I think we need to see some action,” he said.
AT A GLANCE
Voluntary cleanup program
» Established in 1997
» Provides state oversight for voluntary cleanups
» Aims to increase the number of sites cleaned up by streamlining the process
» Includes sites with contaminants in soil, water and air
Source: Maryland Department of the Environment
