Contamination

A federal judge signed off on a deal between government regulators and the owner of the Sparrows Point steel plant requiring the company only to look near its shoreline for toxic contaminants it might need to clean up. U.S. District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz accepted an agreement between RG Steel and the Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment on how far into surrounding waters the company needs to look...

People aren't the only ones at risk from eating mercury-contaminated fish, since coal-burning power plants have liberally sprinkled the toxic metal across the earth's waters.  But it appears that captive dolphins have a little less to worry about in that regard than their wild counterparts. A new study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the National Aquarium in Baltimore found that the aquarium's captive bottlenose dolphins have lower levels of mercury in their bodies than wild dolphins tested off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida.

We were very disappointed to read in the Sun on Tuesday that the Maryland Department of the Environment had approved a request from ExxonMobil to stop monitoring 130 residential wells it had contaminated in Jacksonville in 2006 and to discontinue bottled water to 126 homes ("Exxon ruling draws protest," Mar. 2). While the recovery and remediation work has had significant success in retrieving gasoline and its related contaminants, this man-made disaster has not always been predictable, and residents whose homes and lives have been impacted should not be subject to uncertainty about the safety of their well water until it is clear that the entire area is completely clear of MTBE and other contaminants from the 26,000 gallon leak.

A shipment of Indian cumin seed contaminated with the larvae of a dead Khapra beetle, an invasive insect, never made it to McCormick & Co.'s Hunt Valley facility and was to be sent back to India, the spice maker said Tuesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists discovered the larvae and other seed contaminants during a search of the shipment at the port of Baltimore on April 17. The next day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that the insect was a Khapra beetle, considered one of the most destructive pests, damaging grain, cereals and stored food.

Scientists from the National Aquarium and the Johns Hopkins University say they've found low but potentially harmful levels of toxic oil contaminants in the Gulf of Mexico months after the Deepwater Horizon well blowout was capped. Erik Rifkin, interim executive director of the aquarium's conservation center, and Yongseok Hong, a post-doctoral fellow at Hopkins, say that using devices that mimic the way fish absorb contaminants in their environment, they've detected oil-related chemical compounds on the Louisiana coast that traditional water sampling methods mostly missed.

Experts told Woodbine residents Wednesday night that contaminants from the Carrs Mill Landfill don't appear to be migrating across a stream to neighboring homes but that they can't be certain.James W. Mercer, president and principal hydrogeologist for Virginia-based GeoTrans Inc., told about 15 residents at Glenwood Middle School that the contaminants are draining into Cattail Creek.His company conducted a $139,000 study of contamination at the landfill and how to clean it up.Responding to questions about possible migration of the chemicals through ground water under the creek, he said his conclusion is supported by water samples collected from wells on the eastern, or landfill side of the creek, and from contaminants found in the creek itself.

Joppatowne resident Thomas Mathison had one main question at a hearing on the Army's plans to clean up two contaminated sites at Aberdeen Proving Ground.Why, Mathison asked, has the Army waited so many years to start the work?Mathison was one of about a dozen citizens attending Monday's public hearing on the Army's proposals to clean up the sites, both of which are at the Edgewood Area of the proving ground.Residents attending the hearing did not question the Army's general plan for the cleanup.

Howard County has fired the laboratory it used to analyze water samples collected from residential wells near Alpha Ridge landfill after the company reported findings that later were proved to be false.According to county documents released last week, Spectralytix of Gaithersburg told government officials Aug. 11 that the contaminant toluene, a suspected cause of cancer, had been found July 28 in two residential wells near the landfill.The report, later found to be false, appeared to confirm residents' worst fears, that, contrary to experts' predictions, cancer-causing contaminants found in test wells of the ground water at the landfill had spread to homes beyond the landfill, and with alarming speed.

The residents of two homes next to the Millersville Landfill were drinking bottled water over the weekend after county health officials discovered contamination in their wells.County crews supplied the water Friday to the houses in the 8300 block of New Cut Road after receiving the results of tests conducted two weeks ago. The results of additional tests are due back this afternoon."It's an inconvenience," said Michael Maszczenski, who lives lessthan 1,000 feet from the landfill. "It isn't like going to the faucet.

About 40 Hampstead area residents and officials listened last night as Black and Decker (U.S.) Inc. made its case for a permit to pump an average of 432,000 gallons of water a day from 10 wells on the company's land on Route 30.The goal of the project is to contain underground chemical contamination on the company's land, said Randy McAlister, a hydrogeologist hired by the company.Several solvents used to degrease parts apparently leaked from the company's chemical storage area.The contamination was discovered in 1985, said LaVere M. Grimes, facility manager for Black and Decker's Hampstead plant.

In their continuing campaign against animal protein and modern agriculture, the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health has published findings that, in my opinion as a microbiologist and veterinarian, defy logic and sound science. Their studies examined "chicken feather meal," not meat, and claim from an extremely small sample size to have found trace amounts, in some cases a fraction of one part per billion, of caffeine, arsenic, banned antibiotics and ingredients found in Benadryl, Prozac and Tylenol.

Eight people in Maryland are among 93 across the country who have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak with a possible link to sushi, according to state health officials. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began investigating the outbreak in January, and the first Maryland cases were discovered last month, said Alvina Chu, an epidemiologist and chief of the division of outbreak investigation at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The strain being investigated is salmonella bareilly , and infections have been reported in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

A federal judge signed off on a deal between government regulators and the owner of the Sparrows Point steel plant requiring the company only to look near its shoreline for toxic contaminants it might need to clean up. U.S. District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz accepted an agreement between RG Steel and the Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment on how far into surrounding waters the company needs to look...

For years, the wastes from burning coal and producing copper have enjoyed a second life, used in sand-blasting to remove paint, rust and grime from ship's hulls, storage tanks, bridge trusses and other surfaces. Painting contractors, shipyard workers and thousands of others in Baltimore and across the country are said to use the black, gritty material called slag. Now, though, questions have been raised about whether those who do blasting with ground-up coal or copper slag may be unwittingly exposing themselves to toxic contaminants that could damage their health.

The following was addressed to Harford County Council President Billy Boniface. A copy was provided for publication. The League of Women Voters of Harford County believes that an open, responsive, democratic government depends upon citizens being informed and active participants at all levels of government. Therefore, the League of Women Voters of Harford County is concerned that citizen's rights will be lost if Sections 267-58 C (4) and267-59C(7) of the Harford County Code are revised as proposed in Bill 11-48 "Gas Station Reforms.

Scientists from the National Aquarium and the Johns Hopkins University say they've found low but potentially harmful levels of toxic oil contaminants in the Gulf of Mexico months after the Deepwater Horizon well blowout was capped. Erik Rifkin, interim executive director of the aquarium's conservation center, and Yongseok Hong, a post-doctoral fellow at Hopkins, say that using devices that mimic the way fish absorb contaminants in their environment, they've detected oil-related chemical compounds on the Louisiana coast that traditional water sampling methods mostly missed.

Miami Beach Park's swimming area will remain closed until at least July 23, while Baltimore County environmental inspectors continue searching for the source of a water-borne bacterial contaminant.Results of the search -- begun July 9 -- were expected early this week, said Ian Forrest, bureau chief for the county's Waste Management and Community Service. But inspectors, he said, have had difficulty reaching the owners of nearby septic tanks -- a possible source of the fecal coliform contamination.

A company that wants to expand an Abingdon rubble fill should be required to conduct a thorough environmental study of the site, a geologist and county administrators argued last week.The study is needed to determine the source and extent of contamination at the Spencer Sand & Gravel Inc.'s Abingdon site, they told state Department of theEnvironment officials at a meeting Thursday.Samples taken last September from two test wells at the Spencer site, located along both sides of Abingdon Road, contained high levelsof trichloroethene, according to state records.

All too often, settlements and court victories in cases where millions in monetary damages are awarded appear as outrageous examples of what's wrong with the judicial system. A few high profile cases, like the infamous hot coffee injury case which was raised a few papers ago by a letter writer whose opinions were published on this page, tend to capture public attention and serve as justification for railing against the system. Fair enough. It's a free country, and railing against the system is what having a free country is all about.

Randy White had just buried a daughter, dead at 30 with a brain tumor. Now his other daughter had been diagnosed with growths in her abdomen. When doctors told White in 2009 that their conditions were likely caused by something in their environment, the Frederick native thought of Fort Detrick. His children had grown up near the Army base. Detrick was home to the nation's biological weapons program from the 1940s through the 1960s. It remains a key center for medical research.