Incinerator

Neighbors who fear that a plan to expand an energy-producing incinerator in Harford County will cause them traffic headaches won't know until later this year if their concerns will be addressed. The Harford County Council recently chose not to consider a proposal that would have required the Army, Baltimore County and the state to build a new access road from Route 24 to the Harford Waste-to-Energy Facility next to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Joppa as part of a proposed $400 million expansion project.

A proposed trash incinerator and a planned natural gas plant threaten to encroach on two Civil War battlefield sites in Western Maryland, a preservation group warned yesterday. The Washington-based Civil War Preservation Trust said recent developments have put the Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick and South Mountain near Middletown on its list of the nation's most endangered battlefields from that war. "In town after town, the irreplaceable battlefields that define those communities are being marred forever," said O. James Lighthizer, the trust's president.

At first glance, it seems like a good idea. Instead of building landfills and burying millions of tons of trash, Frederick and Carroll are considering construction of a waste-to-energy plant. Advocates say the plant would reduce by 90 percent the volume of trash the two counties would have to dispose of and generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes annually. But there are lots of reasons why this project should not be built. For one, the only plant site under consideration is in an industrial park on the edge of the Monocacy National Battlefield south of Frederick.

Accusing the state of failing to control industrial air pollution, environmental groups went to court yesterday to force the Maryland Department of the Environment to set new emission limits for a Baltimore trash incinerator. The groups also threatened to sue Atlanta-based Mirant for allegedly spewing pollutants from one of its power plants in suburban Washington. The plant has been operating for years without a permit. Activists said the actions were prompted by their frustration with the O'Malley administration for foot-dragging in dealing with pollution violations at some of the state's largest factories and power plants.

A county plan to expand Harford's waste-to-energy plant awaits a decision on funding and bids from manufacturers, who will offer proposals to boost the energy output of the facility in Joppa. The county recently spent $10 million to upgrade air pollution controls at the 19-year-old plant and has asked the County Council for $60 million for an expansion. Officials say the project would extend the life of the county's landfill in Street and help protect the Chesapeake Bay. Contractor bids on the project are due by the end of May. "It is where we should be heading," said Robert B. Cooper, county director of public works.

Army withdraws Ft. Meade sewage incinerator plan Facing a groundswell of opposition, Army officials announced last night that they are withdrawing plans to build a sewage sludge incinerator at Fort Meade. "It's Fort Meade's intention to terminate the project because it no longer makes good business sense," said Clyde Reynolds, public works director at the Army post. Fort Meade issued a news release stating its intention at a public hearing on the project held by the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Fort Meade is proposing to build a sewage sludge incinerator, a prospect that has drawn outrage among western Anne Arundel County civic leaders and criticism from the county's top health official about the potential environmental and health impacts. The Maryland Department of the Environment is holding a public hearing tonight in Odenton to discuss plans by a Tennessee contractor, Ameresco Federal Solutions, to build the incinerator near the Army post's sewage plant adjacent to the intersection of Routes 32 and 198. The incinerator would run 24 hours a day on weekdays, disposing of hundreds of tons of sewage a year more cheaply than by trucking the waste away, county and Fort Meade officials said.

Fort Meade is proposing to build a sewage sludge incinerator, a prospect that has drawn outrage among western Anne Arundel County civic leaders and criticism from the county's top health official about the potential environmental and health impacts. The Maryland Department of the Environment is holding a public hearing tonight in Odenton to discuss plans by a Tennessee contractor, Ameresco Federal Solutions, to build the incinerator near the Army post's sewage plant adjacent to the intersection of Routes 32 and 198. The incinerator would run 24 hours a day on weekdays, disposing of hundreds of tons of sewage a year more cheaply than by trucking the waste away, county and Fort Meade officials said.

The new owner of a Baltimore medical waste incinerator has agreed to cut air pollution by installing equipment to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent and to pay a $75,000 penalty for past air pollution violations, the Maryland Department of the Environment announced yesterday. Environment Secretary Kendl P. Philbrick said Curtis Bay Energy also has agreed to install continuous mercury emission monitoring equipment, a first for Maryland. CBE also will perform $125,000 in supplemental projects, including research and development on new ways to control and monitor mercury emissions.

Occupation: Developer and founder of Himmelrich Associates Inc., a 19-year-old Baltimore real estate firm that specializes in renovating decaying industrial properties for offices and retail. In the news: Himmelrich recently bought the former Phoenix Services Inc. incinerator, now called Curtis Bay Energy, one of the nation's largest medical waste-burning plants. Lawmakers and environmentalists wanted it shut down because it broke state air pollution limits more than 400 times over the past two years.