Fly Ash Air Levels Too High, Some Say
Utility's Gambrills Dumpsite at Issue

By Raymond McCaffrey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 4, 2008

An environmental advocacy group said yesterday that it had discovered potentially toxic fly ash residue in air samples taken near a power company's dumpsite that had been linked to groundwater contamination in the Gambrills area.

The nonprofit group Environment Maryland, which issued the report, said in a statement that technicians took samples "in and around homes" surrounding the 80-acre dumpsite, which is owned by BBSS Inc. and used by Constellation Energy, and found fly ash residue "everywhere they looked."

In October, the Maryland Department of the Environment levied a $1 million fine against the two companies and ordered them to come up with a plan to clean up the contaminated groundwater.

"No one is even looking at the air pollution impacts, and we're frustrated by that," said Brad Heavner, the state director of Environment Maryland.

State environment officials also discovered fly ash in air samples taken near the site, but they determined that the health risk to residents was "very low," Phil Heard, a health adviser to the Department of the Environment, said yesterday.

Fly ash, a by-product of coal-fired power plants, was also found in air samples taken eight miles from the site and would not be uncommon elsewhere in the state, Heard said.

Constellation Energy stopped dumping the ash at the site in September while the company developed a plan to meet the state's demands.

Heavner called on the state to "shut down that place permanently" and to include air pollution protections in regulations the department is developing concerning fly ash dumping.

"It has almost nothing on air," he said.

Robert Ballinger, a spokesman for the department, said air quality will be addressed in the fly ash regulations, which will be reviewed in a public hearing Feb. 5. The regulations are necessary because the federal government has not "determined fly ash to be a hazardous waste," he said.

Nonetheless, the state continues to inspect the Gambrills site regularly, Ballinger said, adding: "We're making sure that that dust is being controlled."

Maureen Brown, a Constellation Energy spokeswoman, said yesterday that the company wanted to review the results of Environment Maryland's tests before commenting. But she said that the company was "in full compliance with the consent decree" issued by the state and had submitted on Nov. 30 an evaluation concerning "potential remediation steps."

"Our number one priority continues to be that residents have a long-term safe drinking supply," Brown said.

The state's consent order requires that homes near the site be given access to safe water.

Tim Berkoff, chairman of the environment and zoning committee for the Crofton First citizens group, also called for "more rigorous air monitoring" at the site. "It would seem if this dust is being generated from these operations, we would like air analysis of some kind," he said.

According to Environment Maryland, fly ash "contains heavy metals such as cadmium, thallium and beryllium. When exposure occurs over long periods of time, these metals can cause cancer and nervous system disorders."