Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold?s amendment plugged a bill?s loophole that would have allowed fly ash to be dumped in rubble landfills.
“There is a separate, distinct exemption that allows it to be dumped … and to be on the safe side, this addresses that possibility,” said county attorney Jonathan Hodgson.
At rubble landfills, waste such as construction material are deposited, usually to reclaim mines and gravel pits.
The County Council will vote on the controversial legislation Monday after last-minute filibustering during a five-hour meeting delayed the bill by two weeks.
The bill prohibits dumping fly ash, as was done for 12 years by Constellation Energy in Gambrills, where health officials discovered several wells contaminated by high levels of metals that they believe came from the ash. The fly ash is a by-product of coal-combustion power plants.
Even with the new amendment, the bill can be voted on because it is emergency legislation.
The new law would prohibit fly ash dumping for one year. However, officials said the bill may not have an effect, because it doesn?t prohibit current dumping in Gambrills, and no dumping projects are in the foreseeable future.
Monday also will be the day the Maryland Department of the Environment will release the consent decree with Constellation Energy, describing how the Baltimore-based utility company will clean up Gambrills? sites.
That decree will be posted as either an agreed upon document, or as part of a civil complaint.
If Constellation Energy does not agree to MDE?s demands, the state will sue, said MDE spokesman Robert Ballinger.
County Council Chairman Ronald Dillon Jr. said he is trying to get MDE officials to testify during Monday?s meeting, but Ballinger said he could not say if an official would be there.
