After nearly 20 years of battling a powerful utility -- and gaining a major victory -- some activists might have celebrated loudly, then returned to the normal business of life.
Not the residents of the Solley community in northern Anne Arundel County.
Although the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. recently announced an end to its policy of using fly ash as fill in Brandon Woods Business Park, area residents aren't ready to celebrate yet.
They vow to keep pressing the utility giant on environmental and safety issues related to fly ash -- the gray dust and chunks that are a byproduct of burning coal at BGE's Brandon Shores and H. A. Wagner electricity-generating plants.
"They threw us a curve, a nice curve, one that we didn't expect," said environmental activist and Democratic state Del. Mary M. Rosso. "We're glad they're not going to bury us under another 5 million tons of fly ash, but that doesn't solve everything."
For members of the Coalition of Communities and Citizens Against Fly Ash, the utility's promise to stop dumping at the Brandon Woods site raises new issues even as some old concerns are put to rest.
Group members want utility and state environment officials to ensure the safety of air and water in the surrounding area.
Residents have long claimed that the powdery gray substance is a potential respiratory hazard and could contaminate the ground water and drinking aquifer. Utility executives have said it is a natural product that has never proved toxic, with state and federal agencies ruling that the ash was safe.
Monitoring effects
State and federal environmental agencies have found the ash not to be hazardous, and the Maryland Department of the Environment is drafting permits that will require BGE to monitor the effects of fly ash at the site. Still, residents say they have serious concerns about the 4 million tons of fly ash that BGE has deposited at the 500-acre office and industrial park since 1982.
"I think they still owe the community something," said Casper Hackmann, a Solley resident and member of the coalition. "They've done a lot of harm with the fly ash and the future harm is undetermined."
Frustration with officials
The coalition had its beginnings in a group of Solley residents who began worrying in 1982.
"Problems constantly arose," said Hackmann, 77, a lifelong neighborhood resident. "I could hardly use my front porch. Every time we went out there, we had to wipe the fly ash from the table."
