Fly ash dumping to cease

Constellation Energy has decided to stop depositing fly ash in a Gambrills mine until health concerns are resolved.

"We're certainly not running from the issue," Constellation spokesman Rob Gould said last night. "We're hitting it head on."

The dumping suspension comes as Constellation negotiates with the Maryland Department of Environment over how to remedy problems at the Gambrills mine. Cancer-causing metals leached out of the sand mine and contaminated 23 wells.

MDE yestereday released the previously secret outline of its proposed consent decree, which asked Constellation to halt the dumping last month.

Local politicians, particularly County Executive John R. Leopold, put little stock in the consent degree and argued for an outright ban on fly ash.

"The protections offered in the consent decree may prove to be as porous as the soil," Mr. Leopold said, adding that yesterday's revelations came only as his administration pushed to eradicate burying fly ash here.

Councilman Jamie Benoit, a Crownsville Democrat whose district includes the mine, said he hoped his fellow councilmen will call for a vote on the ban at Monday's meeting.

"I for one think we should say enough is enough with this in Anne Arundel County," Mr. Benoit said.

Constellation began delivering bottled water to residents on Summerfield Road in October after the company's monitoring wells detected the fly ash had leached into drinking water. Mr. Gould, the company's spokesman, said Constellation notified MDE and has taken steps to make sure the mine's neighbors are safe. He emphasized the company has not broken any federal regulations.

The company, as well as mine owner BBSS, Inc., face "significant fines" and other action from MDE. The parties have an Oct. 1 deadline to agree on how to mitigate the problems in Gambrills, or MDE will send the issue to a judge.

Meanwhile, the 100 dump trucks a day of fly ash will be deposited in another county. Constellation intends to resume burying fly ash in Gambrills once "engineering upgrades" such as a liner to contain the ash are installed.

Fly ash is left-over impurities from coal combustion. Since 1995, about 200,000 tons a year produced at power plants near Pasadena have been buried in Gambrills. Like other coal combustion products, fly ash can be recycled in concrete and asphalt. According to the American Coal Ash Association, about 37 million tons of coal combustion products are reused in the United States each year, but more than 81 million tons are buried in landfills.

State and federal laws disparately address the health risks and regulations for burying fly ash.

Mr. Leopold said he thought a total ban on new fly ash sites was the only way to safeguard county residents from potential carcinogens.

Council Chairman Ron Dillon, R-Pasadena, had suggested delaying a vote on the ban until the details of the MDE-Constellation agreement had been reached. Yesterday, he said he's still willing to table the vote until councilmen can conduct more research about how fly ash is handled elsewhere.

"It's great to ban it, and I think frankly all of us would like to take that route because it's best for public health," Mr. Dillon said. "What I'm truly interested in are the alternatives if we don't bury it."