Landfill neighbor fights BFI permit

An Anne Arundel County man who says his land has been poisoned by Browning-Ferris Industries' leaking hazardous waste landfill on Solley Road is contesting a decision by state regulators to give the waste hauler permission to reseal part of the site.

"It's not good -- the permit does not address the problems," said S. John Blumenthal, who owns 145 acres next to the landfill.

Mr. Blumenthal filed a letter Thursday with the Maryland Department of the Environment requesting a hearing on the permit. BFI's consultants have shown that ground water tested on his land contains cancer-causing chemicals emanating from the landfill, and he has abandoned plans to build a housing development on his property.

"The landfill was closed in 1982, and 13 years later it is still leaking. What is MDE doing?" Mr. Blumenthal said. He has sued BFI in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, charging it breached a contract with him when it contaminated his property. A trial is set for December. MDE announced last month it plans to approve BFI's controversial plan to reseal 8 acres at the closed hazardous waste landfill near Pasadena.

That ruling came 23 months after BFI requested the permit to repair and then reseal the landfill.