The County Commissioners yesterday approved a request from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. to build two hot dog-shaped natural gas storage tanks at the Northern Landfill.
BGE must also receive approval from the county Board of Zoning Appeals and the state Department of Transportation, which regulates natural gas facilities.
The utility wants to build two 35,000-gallon tanks at the landfill in Reese by December 1999. The tanks will hold natural gas chilled to a liquid state at 260 degrees below zero.
The tanks will be tapped if a hard winter increases demand for natural gas from BGE's 3,500 Westminster-area customers, said Frank Wanken, BGE government affairs representative.
"It's really a safety net for all our gas customers," he said.
Wanken said the 10- to 12-foot-tall tanks look "like big hot dogs." They will be installed near a closed rubble fill and are unlikely to be visible from neighboring properties.
He said the utility notified about 70 residents of its plan and received questions, but no opposition.
The tanks will be in the opposite direction from the firing range at the landfill, he said. A bullet could hit the tanks only if the shooter faced away from the targets and fired "through a mound of dirt that's almost a mountain," he said.
BGE will pay Carroll County $66,000 for a 5 1/2 -year easement to use five acres of the 220-acre property. The utility will pay $75,900 if the easement is extended for a second five-year period, and $87,285 for a third five-year extension.
Wanken said BGE eventually plans to replace the storage tanks with a larger gas line that will extend from the southern end of the county to Westminster. The line is being extended as new subdivisions justify the expense of installation, he said.
Wanken said the tanks will be double-walled and surrounded by dikes to contain the liquid natural gas in case of a leak. If the liquid leaked, it would dissipate as it warmed and vaporized in the air, he said.
Pub Date: 4/29/98
