Discharge

Beth Surbeck and son Ben, 12, were watching a thunderstorm in Lutherville when "a bright orange flash arose from ... our macadam road, and there was an audible pop," but no lightning or thunder. "What might have caused this?" Sounds like the discharge of a "positive streamer," a channel of ionized air that leaps from the ground to meet "stepped leaders" descending from the clouds. Where they connect, lightning strikes. Where they don't, the streamer discharges with a feeble "pop."

A plan to discharge treated sewage from Francis Scott Key High School onto a nearby dairy farm was unveiled before Carroll County commissioners yesterday by a New Windsor consultant.The commissioners immediately lauded the idea of David T. Duree, president of Advance Systems, as an inexpensive way to correct a costly error by the county Board of Education. The school board built the $800,000 wastewater treatment plant last year to replace its aging septic system, but failed to obtain state construction and discharge permits.

Vernon Berg 3d, 47, an artist who was one of the first officers to stand up to the military after he was discharged for being homosexual, died in New York on Wednesday of complications from AIDS.A Naval Academy graduate, he sued the Navy after being given an "other than honorable" discharge as an ensign in 1976 when an investigation revealed he was involved in a gay relationship. His discharge was upgraded to "honorable" as a result, and the armed forces later adopted a policy of generally granting honorable discharges to homosexuals.

A Wal-Mart in Catonsville closed yesterday evening after pepper spray was discharged in the store. Eight customers were treated at the scene for skin and eye irritation.Baltimore County police and fire personnel were called to the store at 6205 Baltimore National Pike about 6: 15 p.m. None of the injured customers sought further medical treatment, police said.Police have no suspects in the incident. The store was expected to reopen today, police said.

A plan to discharge treated sewage from Francis Scott Key High School onto a nearby dairy farm was unveiled before Carroll County commissioners yesterday by a New Windsor consultant.The commissioners immediately lauded the idea of David T. Duree, president of Advance Systems, as an inexpensive way to correct a costly error by the county Board of Education. The school board built the $800,000 wastewater treatment plant last year to replace its aging septic system, but failed to obtain state construction and discharge permits.

Six months after the Court of Special Appeals rejected a move to allow an increase of 400,000 gallons per day in sewage discharge from the Hampstead Wastewater Treatment Plant, state environmental officials are considering a plan to allow the increase -- with strict temperature regulations.Officials of the Maryland Department of the Environment outlined the plan at a public meeting and hearing yesterday on the proposal to allow the plant to discharge up to 900,000 gallons of effluent daily.

THE QUIETLY snaking, grassy-banked meander of the Piney Run appears an unlikely candidate for an environmental controversy that's gone all the way to federal court.But the free-flowing, clear-running stream that passes by Carroll County's sewage treatment plant in Hampstead into the old forests and rambling countryside of western Baltimore County, and eventually into the Gunpowder watershed, is the subject of a heated argument over water temperature -- specifically the level at which native brown trout can thrive.

Carroll County school officials drew fire from Uniontown area residents at a three-hour public hearing yesterday for failing to notify them of a plan -- which they oppose -- to discharge treated septic waste into a local stream.The hearing, attended by 35 residents, was part of the Maryland Department of the Environment's review of the school system's request to discharge up to 17,000 gallons a day of treated effluent from Francis Scott Key High School into an unnamed tributary of Little Pipe Creek.

Neighbors of Francis Scott Key High School are appealing a decision allowing the school to discharge effluent from a new septic waste treatment plant to a tributary of Little Pipe Creek.The Maryland Department of the Environment approved a permit in April for the school to discharge up to 17,000 gallons of treated effluent daily into the unnamed stream.Bark Hill Road residents protested at a January public hearing that they should have been notified individually of the school system's plan.

In a ruling that could jeopardize the construction of homes and efforts to attract business to Hampstead, a Maryland appeals court has agreed with a group of Baltimore County residents fighting to save their rural side of the border.The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled Monday that Carroll County cannot increase its discharge from Hampstead Wastewater Treatment Plant into the Piney Run trout stream until water temperature tests are made and new hearings are held.The battle over the wastewater treatment plant has been the most contentious in a number of border disputes.

Wednesday in Annapolis, the United States Naval Academy welcomed the most racially and ethnically diverse class in its history: 14 percent Hispanic, 10 percent African-American - and perhaps 2 percent to 3 percent homosexual. I added that last part. No one knows how many plebes are gay or lesbian, but studies have placed the percentage of homosexual men and women serving this nation's military in that range, with some 65,000 said to be on active duty. It's a fairly safe assumption that a small percentage of plebes will have to keep their sexuality a secret if they want to graduate from the academy and, after that, fulfill their obligations to the country.

Is the IRS liening on you? There might be some relief if a tax lien on your house is preventing you from refinancing your mortgage or selling your home. You or your lender can ask the IRS to make its tax lien secondary to the one by the mortgage company refinancing your loan. Or, you can ask the IRS to discharge its lien if you are selling the house for less than the amount of the mortgage lien, the IRS says. A mortgage company is loath to refinance a loan if its lien on the house isn't at the top. The IRS says it's willing to make its claim be second in line if this will help the agency ultimately collect the taxes you owe. Follow the directions in Publication 784 under "How to Prepare an Application for a Certificate of Subordination of a Federal Tax Lien."

Almost half of the patients flown by helicopter to Maryland trauma centers are released within 24 hours, making some lawmakers wonder whether the state's vaunted Medevac system is overused. At an Annapolis hearing this morning, legislators plan to question state medical officials about the discharge rates and overall efficiency of the Medevac program. The hearing was prompted in part by a legislative audit last month that was critical of the Maryland State Police's fiscal management and maintenance of the program's aging 12-helicopter fleet.

Born July 5, 1921 at his parents' home on Greenmount Avenue, Vernon (as he was known to his family); Lee, (the nickname he asked to be called by friends) was called to God's Heaven at 5:23 a.m., February 22, 2008 while a resident in the Rolling Park Manor Care Nursing Home. Vernon served inn the United States Navy from March 2, 1939 to October 20, 1945 when he received his Honorable Discharge. At the time he had attained the rank GM 21/C and was Gun Captain of a quad 40 mm on the U.S.S.

Beth Surbeck and son Ben, 12, were watching a thunderstorm in Lutherville when "a bright orange flash arose from ... our macadam road, and there was an audible pop," but no lightning or thunder. "What might have caused this?" Sounds like the discharge of a "positive streamer," a channel of ionized air that leaps from the ground to meet "stepped leaders" descending from the clouds. Where they connect, lightning strikes. Where they don't, the streamer discharges with a feeble "pop."

On January 27, 2005 WILLIAM "Capt" DARDEN age 75, former Food Service Director at Baltimore City Jail, where he was employed for 32 years. William was born in Black Creek, NC., and graduated from Darden H.S., in Wilson N.C., he attended North Carolina A &T College, and he served in the US Army Signal Corp until his discharge in 1956. After his honorable discharge he moved his family to Baltimore, MD. William is survived by his wife of 52 years, Lorena Davis and seven children; Donald, Phyllis, John, William, Mark, Milton and Statin.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation announced yesterday it will sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, contending that the Bush administration is not doing enough to control sewage pollution. The foundation is trying to force the regulatory agency to place discharge limits on sewage treatment plants, a major source of pollution because of the nitrogen they routinely dump into the bay. The lawsuit, to be filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, marks the latest step in the foundation's get-tough strategy, made possible by a new $1.25 million grant for litigation.

The Carroll County commissioners expect to decide soon on a plan to lower the temperature of treated water discharged from the county's wastewater treatment plant near Hampstead. The cost of correcting the temperature is estimated to cost as much as $2.2 million, Carroll Comptroller Eugene Curfman said. But until a specific remedy is chosen, he said the cost won't be known for sure. "Funding for the project comes from debt," he said, either from the sale of bonds by the county or a loan from the state.

The state filed a complaint this week in Carroll County Circuit Court claiming that the discharge from the county's wastewater treatment plant in Hampstead exceeded temperature requirements 39 times this summer. Data collected last month weren't included. The plant discharges treated sewage, called effluent, into Piney Run, a stream whose name changes to Western Run in Baltimore County, where it feeds into Loch Raven Reservoir. The Maryland Department of the Environment requires the county to monitor the temperature of the effluent and to report any increase above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit)

After years of legal battles, Carroll County has won approval to increase the discharge from its Hampstead wastewater treatment plant - but only if it keeps the effluent from getting too warm. The decision Tuesday, from the Maryland Department of the Environment, raises the possibility that the county could have to spend millions of dollars to chill the discharge to the required 68 degrees. It also requires the county to monitor the normal temperature of Piney Run, a stream whose name changes to Western Run in Baltimore County.