Anhydrous

THE LARGEST anhydrous ammonia spill in the nation's history merited only a three-paragraph brief in The Sun, although the 1991 accident occurred at the former Heileman brewery in Baltimore County. Why so little space? It wasn't a big deal. Nobody was evacuated, nobody died and nobody was injured. Chris Hawley, the Baltimore County Fire Department's hazardous materials coordinator, recalls that the gas quickly dissipated into the air, never causing a stir in residential communities near the brewery.

The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed what it calls "sweeping" and "revolutionary" changes in standards for the construction of the railroad tank cars that carry the most dangerous chemicals through American communities. The new rules would strengthen the tankers to prevent penetration and ruptures at speeds up to 30 mph and slow some freights hauling dangerous cargo until the older tankers are replaced. Railroads and chemical companies would have to replace half the 15,300 tank cars used to transport chlorine and anhydrous ammonia with stronger models within five years of the rules' enactment.

A Catonsville man was overwhelmed yesterday morning by noxious fumes from a pile of trash he had picked up in Elkridge.Larry Achliovi of the 2400 block of Old Frederick Road was discharged yesterday afternoon from University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore after suffering respiratory problems, said Capt. Kenneth Byerly, a spokesman for the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.Achliovi, a dump-truck driver for Browning-Ferris Industries, told authorities that about 6: 45 a.m., he was operating his usual trash run of 10 stops in Elkridge.

At first, Danny Akin couldn't figure out why someone would want to steal anhydrous ammonia from the locked tanks in back of his store near Topeka, Kan. The fertilizer can nauseate people, burn their skin and "if you get some in your eye, you'll probably lose it," says Akin, who manages STE Ag Services, a farming supply business, and wears gloves and goggles when he handles anhydrous ammonia. But four years, untold broken locks and nearly 50 thefts later, Akin knows why people steal the toxic substance -- to produce an illegal drug called methamphetamine, otherwise known as speed or meth.

In a letter to neighbors of its northeastern Anne Arundel County power plants, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said yesterday it will move forward with installation of pollution-control equipment using a hazardous form of ammonia, but adding that it may be needed for no more than three years. The $100 million system being installed at the coal-fired Brandon Shores plant - needed to meet new standards for nitrogen oxide emissions in five warm-weather months - has raised concern because of the need to truck in anhydrous ammonia.

If Lester A. Ettlinger hadn't wanted to meet his neighbors that night in April, the subject of anhydrous ammonia might never have come up. Solley peninsula residents might not have learned about the hazardous chemical, nor of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s plans to truck it daily into the Brandon Shores power plant. And BGE officials might be concentrating on building their anhydrous ammonia-based anti-pollution system instead of dealing with community outrage. But Ettlinger, an environmental risk consultant who moved to the area in March, did go to the April 10 Stoney Beach community meeting, hoping to get to know some of his new neighbors.

In a setback for those worried about trucks filled with a hazardous chemical turning into Baltimore Gas and Electric's north county complex, state highway officials said they doubt they will upgrade the traffic signal at Fort Smallwood Road and Energy Parkway. Local legislators, along with BGE, have pushed the State Highway Administration for months to install a turn-on-green-only left-turn signal at the entrance to BGE's Brandon Shores complex, the site of 10 accidents since the beginning of the year.

A residents' protest outside Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s Brandon Shores power complex yesterday offered passing motorists a strange spectacle of children looking back at them through gas masks, with their mothers nearby in shorts, T-shirts and surgical masks, waving signs. Eight police officers stood by as about 20 children and 20 adults, all neighbors of the Solley power plant, staged their most public - and most theatrical - display of community outrage yet in the growing dispute over the plant's planned anti-pollution system.

SOMEONE's asleep at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s community relations switch. BGE is taking a lot of heat from northern Anne Arundel County neighbors because, once again, residents believe the utility is carelessly imposing a health hazard. Apparently, few lessons were learned from the 17-year-old fly ash battle. In September, BGE finally resolved its 17-year dispute with neighbors over fly ash. The Solley community and others fought BGE's decision to use 4 million tons of that material to build a nearby industrial park.

In her first meeting with residents since a controversy erupted over Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. plans to haul a hazardous material through the Solley area, County Executive Janet S. Owens fielded nearly an hour's worth of sometimes emotional questions last night. Owens, flanked by a bevy of county officials, said she would discuss residents' concerns about BGE plans to truck 7,000 tons of anhydrous ammonia each day through the area at a meeting with company officials tomorrow. "My No. 1 concern is safety," she told nearly 100 residents at a town hall meeting at the Stoney Creek Democratic Club.

Bending to a four-month protest by Solley area residents, Constellation Power Source Generation has agreed to abandon a plan to decrease emissions at the Brandon Shores power plant by using potentially dangerous anhydrous ammonia that would have been transported through the neighborhood daily. During a closed three-hour mediation session Thursday night with representatives of the northern Anne Arundel County community, the company agreed to use aqueous ammonia, a liquid viewed as less dangerous than anhydrous ammonia, which can cause severe lung damage and death in extreme exposure.

Pasadena area already harbors enough spoil It is encouraging that the Maryland Port Administration (MPA) is considering using dredge spoil to restore sinking islands in the Chesapeake Bay ("Port looks to islands to ease dredging woes," Sept. 9). However, at the same time the MPA was trumpeting its new-found sensitivity to the environment and community, Pasadena residents were shocked to learn the port is considering building a massive, dredge disposal island off our shores (Site 170).

State and county officials, representatives of the Brandon Shores power plant and its neighbors have decided to continue meeting - apparently the only official decision reached in the latest attempt to resolve a dispute over plans for an emissions-control system using potentially hazardous anhydrous ammonia. After a meeting at the state Department of Environment headquarters in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon, they gave differing accounts on anything else that may have been accomplished to change the plans of Constellation Power Source Generation, which took over operation of the plant in a corporate restructuring of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. "There was no assurance given by BGE officials that they were going to abandon the anhydrous ammonia alternative in the near term," said Del. John R. Leopold, who was one of the Solley community's legislators present.

State and county officials, representatives of the Brandon Shores power plant and its neighbors have decided to continue meeting - apparently the only official decision reached in the latest attempt to resolve a dispute over plans for an emissions-control system using potentially hazardous anhydrous ammonia. After a meeting at the state Department of Environment headquarters in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon, they gave differing accounts on anything else that may have been accomplished to change the plans of Constellation Power Source Generation, which took over operation of the plant in a corporate restructuring of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. "There was no assurance given by BGE officials that they were going to abandon the anhydrous ammonia alternative in the near term," said Del. John R. Leopold, who was one of the Solley community's legislators present.

Siding with worried Solley residents, the County Council passed a resolution last night urging the operator of the Brandon Shores power plant to scrap plans to haul a hazardous material through the neighborhood. The vote was 5-1, with Councilman Bill D. Burlison voting no because of the issue's technical nature. Councilwoman Pamela G. Beidle abstained, citing an unspecified potential conflict of interest. The action cannot force the company to do anything. Councilwoman Shirley Murphy, the resolution's sponsor, hopes to put pressure on Constellation Power Source, which operates the plant formerly owned by its sister company, Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. The move cheered Solley residents who object to Constellation's plan to use anhydrous ammonia - a common industrial chemical that can cause severe lung damage and death in cases of extreme exposure - in a system designed to reduce pollution at the coal-fired Brandon Shores plant.

Solley-area leaders plan to present the County Council tonight with petitions signed by an estimated 1,500 residents who oppose plans to truck a potentially hazardous chemical into a Brandon Shores power plant, community organizers said. It is an attempt, they said, to shed additional light on concerns about anhydrous ammonia, an industrial chemical used to reduce air pollution, but one which can cause severe lung damage and death in extreme exposures. "Petitions are an effective tool to get the attention of the council as well as the county executive," said Del. Mary M. Rosso, a Solley Democrat.

The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed what it calls "sweeping" and "revolutionary" changes in standards for the construction of the railroad tank cars that carry the most dangerous chemicals through American communities. The new rules would strengthen the tankers to prevent penetration and ruptures at speeds up to 30 mph and slow some freights hauling dangerous cargo until the older tankers are replaced. Railroads and chemical companies would have to replace half the 15,300 tank cars used to transport chlorine and anhydrous ammonia with stronger models within five years of the rules' enactment.

Leaders in the battle against the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. proposal to truck a potentially hazardous chemical daily into the Brandon Shores power complex said dozens of residents plan to attend a meeting tonight to question County Executive Janet S. Owens on the growing controversy. Owens was on vacation during the first weeks of the dispute between Solley-area residents and the power giant, and she has not taken a stance on the issue. But the county executive has said she understands residents' fears about BGE's plans to use anhydrous ammonia - a common industrial chemical that can cause severe lung damage and death in cases of extreme exposure - in a new anti-pollution system.

SOMEONE's asleep at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s community relations switch. BGE is taking a lot of heat from northern Anne Arundel County neighbors because, once again, residents believe the utility is carelessly imposing a health hazard. Apparently, few lessons were learned from the 17-year-old fly ash battle. In September, BGE finally resolved its 17-year dispute with neighbors over fly ash. The Solley community and others fought BGE's decision to use 4 million tons of that material to build a nearby industrial park.

BGE plant should convert to gas power Permitting for storage and use of anhydrous ammonia to clean the stacks at the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. Brandon Shores and Wagner plants has caused great concern for northern Anne Arundel communities. The installation of this chemical could be deadly for citizens. The most efficient long-range alternative for clean air would be to convert Brandon Shores/Wagner from coal burners to gas. This should happen now, before any ammonia is used. The use of anhydrous ammonia is only a partial solution for the reduction of nitrogen oxide (NOx)