Compromise Sought On Dunkirk Project

Apple Greene Sewage Plans Protested

Developers of a proposed commercial project are attempting to compromise with neighbors in Dunkirk, but the homeowners are not satisfied.

For the past year, Apple Greene residents have been engaged in heated discussions with Howlin Investment Properties and Marrick Properties, joint developers of the Shoppes at Apple Greene, about their plans for its sewage treatment and stormwater management systems.

The Maryland Department of the Environment held a public meeting last week regarding modifications to the permit the developers have obtained from the state to build a drip-irrigation sewage system.

Rick Bailey of Marrick Properties said he and his associates have been working through the Apple Greene Civic Association's list of requests. "We are trying to hear what you are saying," he said during the meeting.

The drip-irrigation system is designed to treat wastewater to state allowances on-site and drain treated effluent into fields through an underground pipe system surrounding the proposed shopping center. The center is planned for about 100,000 feet of commercial space.

At issue with nearby homeowners are the drainage fields, which sit about 50 feet from some yards, and a storage pond for treated wastewater that was originally planned to be about 75 feet from property lines.

Bailey said the developers' latest plan and permit modifications call for a storage pond half the size of the original, with a capacity to store 31 days of wastewater. The pond has been repositioned and would be nearly 200 feet from property lines, he said.

Richard Klein, an environmental consultant hired by the civic association, thanked the developers for their effort. He said that the residents supported the modification but that they would rather see a 500-foot buffer.

"Our goal is not to stop the Shoppes at Apple Greene," Klein said, noting that the drip-irrigation system has a "very poor track record."

Two such systems are operating in Maryland. Both are in Calvert County, and both are being investigated by the Department of the Environment and the Office of the Attorney General, said Ching Tien, chief of the groundwater discharge division at the Environment Department.

Both systems were found to be violating state standards prohibiting pooling or runoff, according to department inspection reports last year.

The Marley Run facility in Huntingtown is in the midst of fixing its many violations, Tien said. That system, a Marrick development taken over by the county, has a history of violations dating to 2002.