Abandoned south county landfill emitting hazardous chemicals

State-required monitoring shows the abandoned PST landfill in south county is emitting potentially dangerous chemical compounds, one more than seven times the federal safety level.

That discovery is spurring the county to test the local water table for the pollutants.

The county Health Department notified several residents living within a quarter mile of the dump located off of Sands Road in Harwood, that elevated levels of three compounds, all with potentially adverse health effects, were discovered in well-monitoring data.

The letter dated Jan. 2 said elevated levels of the metals beryllium, cadmium and chromium were found by on-site monitoring wells at the rubble landfill, which took about 2 million tons of assorted construction materials and other waste from 1992 to 2001. Chromium was found at 260 to 730 parts per billion in three wells. The maximum safety level is 100 parts per billion.

Because the metals turned up in the monitoring wells, the county has decided to test drinking water wells on properties on the western side of the dump - where pollutants were found - to see if they have spread to the local water table. The county has offered free well testing on those properties, but arrangements have to be made by Jan. 26.

"After identifying the metals that were above the safe standard we felt it was an appropriate time to offer the testing in the immediate area adjacent to the landfill," said Kerry Topofsky, director of the county's Division of Environmental Health. "We will look at those wells to see if they have been affected. We don't anticipate a problem."

The closed dump is monitored under a permit issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment. Dozens of test wells dot the perimeter of the dump's property, now owned by Waste Management Inc. MDE could relinquish its responsibility after a number of years.

Local activists sought to take over monitoring of the dump's effluent once that occurs. The Chesapeake Environmental Protection Association was granted remaining money from a community fund set up by the dump's owners to continue the monitoring.

Group members said they are concerned they have not been given the monitoring data from 2008, though they filed Public Information Act requests months ago.

"We are struggling to get the reports prepared by Waste Management," said Bob Gallagher, an association board member.

If the county has taken action based on the old results, association leaders think it's crucial that new data be disseminated. The last results the group received are the same the county has seen, from 2007.

The county action is based on results recorded in June and December 2007, not the 2008 results, said Ms. Topofsky.

"I have not seen the 2008 data," she said.

The association grew more concerned last week when the health department sent the letters out to local residents.

"MDE told us the levels were not high enough to pose a threat to human health," Mr. Gallagher said. "But why then did the county think it is necessary to monitor people's wells?"

In the wake of revelations of fly-ash pollutants oozing into Gambrills residents' wells, the county has been more sensitive to these issues.

County Executive John R. Leopold doubled county funding for well inspections from $40,000 to $80,000. And when Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. paid the county $100,000 over the Gambrills fly-ash issue, he added that money to the well-testing and monitoring program, he said.

Regarding the current PST landfill, Mr. Leopold said he has been involved in the decision to proceed with testing.

"The health department has taken a strong position about these sorts of carcinogens in the air and water in Gambrills and elsewhere," Mr. Leopold said. "Protecting the public health is the top priority."

He said if pollutants are found in nearby wells, continuous monitoring "absolutely" will be done.

But the association and its scientist hired to help monitor the dump wonder if enough is being done. Andrew Garte, president of Andrew Garte and Associates, a company specializing in environmental planning, monitoring and investigation, was hired to assist the association's monitoring.

He said he thinks the county is acting appropriately by testing nearby wells, but he said he thinks it should cast a wider net.

"Local groundwater can flow in different directions, so it might be more prudent to notify everyone within, say, a half-mile radius," he said. "Offering free testing (to the wider area) will increase available data, making it only easier to understand what may or may not be going on - and determine how important an issue this could be."

Another concern is what kind of chromium is being emitted by the dump. The compound comes in two main forms, trivalent and hexavalent. The latter is much more dangerous.

"The MDE permit does not require a differentiation," Mr. Garth said.

Ms. Topofsky said the county will attempt to test again to determine what kind of chromium is present.

"It is a certainly a question we have to answer," she said.

All of this points to a larger issue, said Mike Lofton of the association, who lives near the dump. He is former president of the Harwood Civic Association.

"We don't know if this is a public health threat or not," he said. "But it sends a strong message that these things are loaded with risk. We don't need them in Anne Arundel County."

He said dumps like PST are magnets for out-of-state waste, and he hopes the county would eliminate the special exception in zoning rules that could allow others to be established.

"Hopefully, this situation is not a real threat," he said. "But how would you feel if you lived next to it and got one of those letters?"