Environmental Quality

Environmental Quality Resources LLC, a Gaithersburg environmental construction company, plans to move its corporate headquarters and 125 jobs by late next year to a former industrial site in southwestern Baltimore County, the company said yesterday. The company, which specializes in stream restoration projects, wetlands enhancement and storm-water management systems for local, state and federal agencies, has purchased 7.1 acres in Halethorpe for $619,000 and plans to invest another $2.5 million in redevelopment.

Some of those environmental activists campaigning against the Keystone XL pipeline are on the young side.  Kids from 20 Maryland high schools, who dub themselves the Tar Sands Students, plan to meet today with a representative of the White House Council on Environmental Quality to press their concerns about construction of the line to carry oil extracted from tar sands deposits in western Canada to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico....

Some of those environmental activists campaigning against the Keystone XL pipeline are on the young side.  Kids from 20 Maryland high schools, who dub themselves the Tar Sands Students, plan to meet today with a representative of the White House Council on Environmental Quality to press their concerns about construction of the line to carry oil extracted from tar sands deposits in western Canada to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico....

Environmental Quality Resources LLC, a Gaithersburg environmental construction company, plans to move its corporate headquarters and 125 jobs by late next year to a former industrial site in southwestern Baltimore County, the company said yesterday. The company, which specializes in stream restoration projects, wetlands enhancement and storm-water management systems for local, state and federal agencies, has purchased 7.1 acres in Halethorpe for $619,000 and plans to invest another $2.5 million in redevelopment.

EVERYWHERE YOU look these days, it seems like somebody's cutting down trees. A new subdivision here, a shopping center there, a highway interchange to accommodate the added traffic. In so many places, all that remains are clumps and fringes of green with a huge job to do. Woodlands play a vital role in filtering the air, protecting underground aquifers and providing habitat for wildlife. It's no coincidence that quality has declined in all three areas as vast forests that once covered much of this continent have disappeared.

Countering business complaints that environmental protection costs jobs, a new study finds that the "greenest" states also have the best business climate, and it ranks Maryland highly on both counts.The Institute for Southern Studies, a nonprofit research organization in Durham, N.C., said in a study released today that Maryland has the 12th healthiest environment of the 50 states, and the 10th strongest economy."The states that do the most to protect their natural resources also wind up with the strongest economies and best jobs for their citizens," concluded Robert Hall, the institute's research director and the report's author.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia has adopted its first environmental regulations of the state's wealthiest agribusiness, poultry farming, and the more than 1 billion pounds of manure that chickens and turkeys leave behind each year. Under rules approved unanimously this week by the State Water Control Board, each of Virginia's 1,309 poultry farmers must obtain a state permit next year, complete a pollution-management plan and track where their birds' manure is sold or applied as fertilizer. The big poultry processors, such as Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms, must help find alternative uses for these wastes, which might include fertilizer pellets, animal feed or power-plant fuel, officials said.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s choice to run Maryland's environmental agency vowed to "find a balance" between protection and economic interests yesterday, as business lobbyists welcomed her nomination and leading Democratic lawmakers pledged to scrutinize her performance in a Michigan agency long criticized by environmentalists. Lynn Y. Buhl, a former midlevel administrator in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, echoed her new boss' views as she made a low-key debut at the State House.

MARYLAND GOVERNORS always have won approval for highest-level appointments, even when the other party controls the General Assembly. Adhering to that healthy precedent, Senate Democrats endorsed 17 of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s choices. But on the 18th -- Secretary of the Environment-designate Lynn Y. Buhl -- members of a Senate panel balked. They were right to say no, and their decision ought to be upheld by the full Senate. The Ehrlich administration suspects partisan politics. But if the governor thought precedent would oblige the Senate to roll over on such passionate concerns -- clean air, clean water, the Chesapeake Bay -- he made an error in judgment.

WASHINGTON - In a move that critics say threatens waterways throughout the nation, the Clinton administration is proposing a change that would allow mining and construction waste to be dumped into rivers, streams and wetlands. A group of Republican members of Congress and environmental activists called on the White House yesterday to withdraw its proposed change to the 1972 Clean Water Act, which, they argue, is intended to appease Sen. Robert C. Byrd. The powerful West Virginia Democrat is a fierce protector of the practice of mountaintop coal mining, which he says provides thousands of jobs in his state.

EVERYWHERE YOU look these days, it seems like somebody's cutting down trees. A new subdivision here, a shopping center there, a highway interchange to accommodate the added traffic. In so many places, all that remains are clumps and fringes of green with a huge job to do. Woodlands play a vital role in filtering the air, protecting underground aquifers and providing habitat for wildlife. It's no coincidence that quality has declined in all three areas as vast forests that once covered much of this continent have disappeared.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. faces the biggest test so far of his influence with the legislature when the Senate likely decides today if Lynn Y. Buhl will be confirmed as environmental secretary. The showdown takes place after weekend negotiations between Ehrlich and Sen. Brian E. Frosh, Buhl's leading critic, broke down without any agreement -- though they continued meeting last night in hopes of forging a deal. "It could be nasty," said Sen. J. Robert Hooper, a Harford County Republican backing Buhl.

MARYLAND GOVERNORS always have won approval for highest-level appointments, even when the other party controls the General Assembly. Adhering to that healthy precedent, Senate Democrats endorsed 17 of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s choices. But on the 18th -- Secretary of the Environment-designate Lynn Y. Buhl -- members of a Senate panel balked. They were right to say no, and their decision ought to be upheld by the full Senate. The Ehrlich administration suspects partisan politics. But if the governor thought precedent would oblige the Senate to roll over on such passionate concerns -- clean air, clean water, the Chesapeake Bay -- he made an error in judgment.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s choice to run Maryland's environmental agency vowed to "find a balance" between protection and economic interests yesterday, as business lobbyists welcomed her nomination and leading Democratic lawmakers pledged to scrutinize her performance in a Michigan agency long criticized by environmentalists. Lynn Y. Buhl, a former midlevel administrator in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, echoed her new boss' views as she made a low-key debut at the State House.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said last night that he is nominating a former Michigan official and Chrysler Corp. attorney to lead the Maryland Department of the Environment, triggering an immediate volley of criticism from activists worried about a weakening of the state's environmental laws and regulations. The nominee, Lynn Y. Buhl, was most recently a deputy chief at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, an agency that receives abysmal marks from advocacy groups there who say public input has been quashed and corporate polluters have gone unpunished in recent years.

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia has adopted its first environmental regulations of the state's wealthiest agribusiness, poultry farming, and the more than 1 billion pounds of manure that chickens and turkeys leave behind each year. Under rules approved unanimously this week by the State Water Control Board, each of Virginia's 1,309 poultry farmers must obtain a state permit next year, complete a pollution-management plan and track where their birds' manure is sold or applied as fertilizer. The big poultry processors, such as Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms, must help find alternative uses for these wastes, which might include fertilizer pellets, animal feed or power-plant fuel, officials said.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said last night that he is nominating a former Michigan official and Chrysler Corp. attorney to lead the Maryland Department of the Environment, triggering an immediate volley of criticism from activists worried about a weakening of the state's environmental laws and regulations. The nominee, Lynn Y. Buhl, was most recently a deputy chief at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, an agency that receives abysmal marks from advocacy groups there who say public input has been quashed and corporate polluters have gone unpunished in recent years.

I DON'T NORMALLY DO grocery store promotions but, by all means, beginning in December, buy milk at Fresh Fields' 17 stores in the mid-Atlantic region, including Baltimore, Annapolis, Bethesda and Rockville.It's an opportunity for all those who ever asked, "How can I help the bay?" to put their money where their mouth is. Look for the label Chesapeake Milk with the Environmental Quality Initiative symbol on the carton.You'll pay a nickel extra on each half-gallon, which for a family that went through, say, 2 gallons a week, would add a whopping 10 bucks a year to the food budget.

WASHINGTON - In a move that critics say threatens waterways throughout the nation, the Clinton administration is proposing a change that would allow mining and construction waste to be dumped into rivers, streams and wetlands. A group of Republican members of Congress and environmental activists called on the White House yesterday to withdraw its proposed change to the 1972 Clean Water Act, which, they argue, is intended to appease Sen. Robert C. Byrd. The powerful West Virginia Democrat is a fierce protector of the practice of mountaintop coal mining, which he says provides thousands of jobs in his state.

I DON'T NORMALLY DO grocery store promotions but, by all means, beginning in December, buy milk at Fresh Fields' 17 stores in the mid-Atlantic region, including Baltimore, Annapolis, Bethesda and Rockville.It's an opportunity for all those who ever asked, "How can I help the bay?" to put their money where their mouth is. Look for the label Chesapeake Milk with the Environmental Quality Initiative symbol on the carton.You'll pay a nickel extra on each half-gallon, which for a family that went through, say, 2 gallons a week, would add a whopping 10 bucks a year to the food budget.