A bill aimed at strictly regulating the disposal of fly ash has died quickly in committee.
The bill was proposed by Del. Mary M. Rosso, an Anne Arundel County Democrat who is a longtime advocate of controlling the fine gray dust left when coal is burned.
The legislation would have required owners of power plants -- namely Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. -- to build clay liners under the ash dumping ground and to monitor air and water quality.
Delegates dropped the bill on a 16-2 vote Saturday in the Environmental Matters Committee.
BGE officials hailed the vote, saying the bill would have required them to dump the fly ash in landfills rather than recycling some of it into pavement and soil.
Critics question whether the 3 million tons of ash collected at the utility's site off Solley Road in Pasadena is safe. The ash blows into a nearby schoolyard and might seep into the county's water supply, they argue.
BGE said the ash is harmless. But at a hearing last week, an industry expert said the ash includes heavy metals, 12 of which are on the Environmental Protection Agency list of hazardous wastes. Rosso vowed last week to keep submitting the bill each year she is in office.
Pub Date: 3/24/99
