Landfill Site

Neighbors of the toxic dump site at Carrs Mill Landfill in Woodbine will get a chance Thursday to question county Public Works Department officials and environmental consultants about the site's cleanup.At least 445 55-gallon drums had been dug up at the site, many of them found to contain toxic industrial solvents. Test results are not yet available for all the drums, which are being stored at the site until they are disposed of."Everyone out there should be concerned," said County Councilman Charles C. Feaga, R-5th, who is sponsoring the meeting along with County Executive Charles I. Ecker.

National golf associations consider Baltimore County the most "underholed" subdivision in the country.County officials are trying to change that dubious ranking by looking at one of the county's sanitary landfills as the site for a new public golf course.The County Council has approved $35,000 for a study to determine the feasibility of an 18-hole course and family golf center on and around the Eastern Sanitary Landfill off the 11500 block of Pulaski Highway in the eastern part of the county.

A committee that's studying whether Carroll should build a new jail or expand the existing one yesterday discussed the pros and cons of building a jail at the Northern Landfill.The nine-member committee toured the 260-acre site on Route 140 and looked at a five-acre parcel toward the front that likely would be the only spot suitable for a jail.The landfill is within minutes of the courthouse, but it might be costly to hook up utility lines there, said committee member George Hardinger of Silver Run, who is director of capital projects for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Montgomery County.

Carroll commissioners disagree about the best place to build a permanent airstrip for model plane enthusiasts -- a Uniontown farm or the old John Owings Landfill.Commissioner Donald I. Dell said he prefers the landfill site. Commissioner Elmer C. Lippy said he likes the farm. Commissioner Julia W. Gouge said she has no preference and would have to look at both sites.The board may vote on the issue at a 2:30 p.m. staff meeting today with Recreation and Parks Department Director Richard J. Soisson.

South Carroll residents own many of the most expensive homes in the county, yet some feel like second-class citizens.They felt dumped upon in the late 1970s when county government pushed through the Hoods Mill Landfill project.And recently, they have become suspicious that county government is out to victimize them again.In the past six months, they battled against the doubling of their water and sewer rates, fought a proposal to create an outdoor shooting range at the landfill site, and opposed aspects of a new development plan for southwest Carroll.

Because an indoor shooting range would be too costly and an outdoor range at Hoods Mill Landfill too controversial, the county Recreation and Parks Board agreed Wednesday to explore other sites for an outdoor range."

County lawyers say they believe they have found a way for the CountyCouncil to legally remove proposed rubble landfill projects from thecounty's solid waste management plan.What's significant about the proposal is that it could affect the status of the proposed Gravel Hill Road rubble landfill near Havre de Grace and the planned Fort Hoyle Road rubble landfill project near Joppa.A proposal being considered by the council would allow the council to remove a landfill site from the solid waste plan under certain conditions, including:* If the site violates county laws.

New zoning regulations to limit the size, location and operation of rubble landfills have been proposed by the County Council.The entire council introduced legislation Tuesday that would apply to all rubble landfills that have not yet received operating permits from the state -- including the proposed Gravel Hill rubble landfill located on 55 acres near Havre de Grace.The bill has been proposed as emergency legislation, meaning it would become law the day it is passed. A public hearing on the bill has been scheduled for March 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers, in the lower level of the courthouse in Bel Air.Said Councilwoman Theresa Pierno, D-District C, "It's a very comprehensive bill and it's not aimed at any particular rubble fill."

If the Harford County government is forced to clean up a leaking landfill near Abingdon, the project could become a "bottomless pit," sucking up millions of taxpayers' dollars and threatening county services, Council President Jeffrey D. Wilson said."