Environmental Activists

One of Maryland's most well-known environmental activists, J. Charles Fox, abruptly resigned as a vice president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Fox, 43, resigned Thursday from one of the region's largest and most influential environmental groups. His resignation took effect yesterday, foundation spokesman John Surrick said. "We're not going to comment on his reasons for resigning," Surrick said. Fox was not available for comment. "This is a tremendous loss for CBF," Chuck Foster, the foundation's chief of staff, said in a statement to employees yesterday.

When the new Baltimore County Council convened for its first work session last week, a crowd of about 30 spectators filled the bleachers in the council chambers. Most were environmental activists, lobbying for a bill that would require forest buffers to protect water quality and the natural ecology of stream systems.This important bill merits a quick passage at tomorrow's countcouncil meeting. The result of three years of mediation efforts among environmentalists, developers and homebuilders, it would continue a county policy that has been in effect since a June 1989 executive order by former County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen required the creation of buffer areas near streams.

Silver Sands resident gets recognitionA Silver Sands resident who has spent the past decade fighting the construction of trash facilities in North County was among the winners last week of the the Maryland Department of the Environment's annual "Together We Can Clean Up" awards.Mary Rosso, president of the Maryland Resource Network, a statewide coalition of environmental activists, helped draft a "solid waste planning accord" last winter between environmentalists, the MDE and industry officials.

Shell Oil Co. must make minor changes to win county approval of its site plan for a gas station, car wash and convenience store south of Mount Airy.The company won a bitter battle last October against local environmental activists, who argued that pollutants from the station would threaten nearby Parrs Spring, the headwaters of the South Branch of the Patapsco River, and the Patuxent and Monocacy rivers.The station is planned on a 0.69-acre site on Lakeview Court, south of Interstate 70 in Frederick County.

Gov. Martin O'Malley joins a long list of political and agricultural leaders across the state who have voiced concern over the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic and the Waterkeeper Alliance's litigation against Alan and Kristin Hudson of Berlin who raise chickens on their Worcester County farm ("O'Malley criticizes UMB for lawsuit," Nov. 18). The governor is correct in pointing out this unfair attack on a family farm represents an "ongoing injustice" and that the environmental law clinic and the Waterkeepers are pursuing "costly litigation of questionable merit.

People who build illegally in areas near the Chesapeake Bay will face significantly stiffer fines under a new Anne Arundel County law. The increased fines are part of the county's attempt to crack down on building violations along its more than 500 miles of shoreline. Environmental activists have criticized the county for not policing offenses in state-designated "critical areas" aggressively. The new penalty for illegal grading in the critical areas will increase from $500 to $5,000 beginning Aug. 9. The penalties for building a pier or bulkhead without a permit and continuing work in defiance of a stop order also will increase from $500 to $5,000.

Delaware Kite Festival Colorful kites will soar into the sky tomorrow at the 32nd annual Great Delaware Kite Festival at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes. Kite fliers of all ability levels and ages are invited to participate. Among the events will be flying contests, stunt kite-flying exhibitions, and a kite raffle. Food and souvenir concessions will also be available. The state park is on Cape Henlopen Drive, off Route 9. Competition registration begins at 9 a.m. Competition entrance fee is $2, $1 for ages 17 and under, additional $2 to enter highest-kite competition; free for spectators.

A disputed proposal to build a trash-burning power plant in South Baltimore gets another airing Thursday, as the Maryland Public Service Commission weighs whether to give the New York-based developer more time to build the $1 billion facility. Energy Answers Baltimore won commission approval in 2010 for its planned 160-megawatt project at a former FMC chemical plant in Fairfield. But the company could not meet the regulatory panel's deadline to start construction more than six months ago and asked for an extension until next summer.

Maxine Taylor thought she was being "green" by using wood chips instead of asphalt for a driveway on her woodsy front yard in Butchers Hill. The chips happen to let rainfall soak through into the ground, stopping a little of the storm-water pollution that's plaguing Baltimore's harbor. But instead of winning praise from a City Hall officially committed to a "cleaner, greener Baltimore," Taylor was cited for violating the city's building and zoning codes with her woody driveway. When she appealed the citation, she said, an administrative law judge informed her the only way she could keep vehicles on her property would be on asphalt or concrete.

The news yesterday that the Brandon Shores power plant has been listed as one of the dirtiest in the nation came as no surprise to Anne Arundel County residents living within sight of its smokestacks."