Leak

A sewer line leak of 25,000 gallons led the Anne Arundel County Health Department to post an emergency closing Friday of Stony Run, a small creek in Linthicum and Hanover. A blockage or buildup of materials caused the leak near Science Drive in Linthicum, said Matt Diehl, a Public Works Department spokesman. The waterway is closed from there to the Patapsco River. Anyone who touches the water should wash well with soap and water, health department spokeswoman Elin Jones said, and clothing that comes into contact with that water should also be washed.

Lawyers for families and businesses who sued ExxonMobil Corp. after an underground gasoline leak in northern Baltimore County have been granted more time to seek reconsideration of a court ruling that struck down most of a $1.5 billion verdict. The Maryland Court of Appeals gave lawyers for about 150 plaintiffs in Jacksonville until April 17 to submit their argument challenging the Feb. 26 verdict. The motion for reconsideration was originally due March 28. But the new date is short of the 30-day extension to April 29 that the lawyers requested in a motion filed last week, said Terri Bolling, a spokeswoman for the Maryland judiciary system.

In what officials say is the largest environmental penalty ever levied by the state, ExxonMobil Corp. has agreed to pay $4 million to the Maryland Department of the Environment for a 26,000-gallon gasoline spill at a Baltimore County service station almost three years ago. Under the agreement announced yesterday, the oil giant could face an additional annual penalty of $1 million if it does not stick to a cleanup schedule that could last several more...

Lawyers for northern Baltimore County families and businesses whose $1.5 billion damages award against the ExxonMobil Corp. was largely overturned by Maryland's highest court asked for more time to seek reconsideration. In a three-page motion filed Friday, the attorneys representing plaintiffs in an underground gasoline leak at a Jacksonville Exxon station in 2006 said they need more time to respond to the Feb. 26 Court of Appeals ruling because of the complexity and impact of the case.

About 20 homes in Woodlawn were evacuated Saturday afternoon after a gas meter leak was discovered, officials said. The gas leak was discovered at about noon in the 1500 block of Kellys Court in Baltimore County, officials said. The leak was secured by 12:48 p.m. and the residents were able to return to their homes shortly after. No one was injured in the incident, officials said. ywenger@baltsun.com

About 200 people were forced out of an Annapolis Junction food production facility after it was determined that ammonia was leaking from a refrigeration unit, Howard County emergency officials said. Firefighters from Howard and Anne Arundel counties, as well as Fort Meade, were called to the Taylor Farms Foodservice building in the 9000 block of Junction Dr. at about 9:40 a.m. Saturday, where they were able to stop the leak, according to Howard County fire spokesman Adam Nolder. Three employees of the company were evaluated by paramedics but refused further treatment.

Stop the leaking! cried House and Senate Republican leaders this week, demanding an immediate bicameral investigation into who told The Washington Post about the CIA's "hidden global internment network" of the disappeared. We've been breached! cried the CIA to the Justice Department the same day, asking it to look into the leak. How about an immediate investigation into the secret prisons? That's the deeper crime. Moral people should leak information about crimes done in the name of the United States.

Seven people were transported to local hospitals after a carbon monoxide leak in a Northwest Baltimore apartment made them sick, the Baltimore Fire Department reported. Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said rescue crews responded to a report of a strange odor in an apartment in the 400 block of Edgewood Road. He said four people were taken to University of Maryland Hospital and three to Johns Hopkins Hospital — all with injuries that were not life-threatening. "People were complaining of headaches," Cartwright said.

A carbon monoxide incident closed an annex at Baltimore City's Main Post Office Monday and sent two people to University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Fire crews responded at about 8:30 a.m. to the one-story annex at Colvin and Lexington streets, near the main building in the 900 block of East Fayette Street. They found one person who had suffered a head injury from a fall and several other employees complaining of dizziness. A hazmat unit conducted air monitoring and determined that there were 38 parts per million of carbon monoxide inside the 35,000-square-foot building.

On Good Friday, April 1945, my military unit at Kelley Field near San Antonio was hustled to the mess hall, windows covered, two armed MPs outside. Ninety-nine enlisted men, two junior commissioned officers and a captain were inside. Windows were covered. We were given plans for the invasion of Japan with a large map tacked on the wall and a two-week window for the operation date. At the end of the meeting, everyone was given a 10-day emergency furlough. If you lived in Texas, great, because not much travel time involved.

Anne Arundel County Fire Department officials said a Freon leak Tuesday morning at the Trader Joe's in Annapolis sent two people to the hospital and caused an evacuation of the store. Two hours later, though, the store in the 100 block of Jennifer Road was deemed safe and was reopened, according to fire officials. The incident was reported at about 10:45 a.m., according to fire department Division Chief Kevin Swindle. He said the first unit on the scene found three people suffering respiratory trouble, attributed to an “irritating odor,” he said.

A recent article about the Maryland Court of Appeals decision striking down most of the $1.65 billion judgment against ExxonMobil Corp. for a 2006 underground gasoline leak in Baltimore County quoted homeowner Hans Wilhelmsen, whose family had been awarded some $60 million in damages, as saying that "nobody was looking for some sort of enormous payout, but just wanted to protect the asset" ("Fraud verdict in leak struck," Feb. 27). The article did not disclose how many properties the Wilhemsen family owns, but he obviously lives in the priciest section of Baltimore County if it takes $60 million to "protect the asset.

Maryland's highest court on Tuesday struck down the bulk of a fraud case against ExxonMobil Corp. stemming from an underground gasoline leak in Baltimore County, reversing most of $1.65 billion in judgments and dealing a stunning blow to hundreds of families. In two opinions on cases arising from the 26,000 gallon spill in Jacksonville in 2006, the Court of Appeals tossed out claims of fraud and ruled that plaintiffs could not collect for emotional distress or the cost of medical care to monitor possible symptoms of illness.

Crews have completed repairs to a leaking water main that had slowed traffic along Park Heights Avenue and Old Court Road in Pikesville, according to public works officials. The repairs were completed about 11 p.m. Wednesday, said Kurt Kocher, a Baltimore City public works spokesman. State highway officials had cautioned motorists to expect major delays near Old Court Road and Park Heights Avenue as crews worked to repair the main. The water main is located on Old Court. Public works crews closed several lanes in the area, including access to southbound Park Heights Avenue south of Old Court, according to the State Highway Administration.

Just before midnight Wednesday, three words brought a stream of emergency crews and hazardous materials units to a wooded corner of Cecil County just north of Interstate 95: liquid sulfuric acid. A train operated by CSX Corp. derailed about 11:45 p.m., and initial reports said two cars contained the highly corrosive and environmentally dangerous substance. Luckily, officials said, the acid didn't leak, even though the cars containing it were off-kilter. "They were either sideways or just off the rail, but none are on their side," said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan of the nine cars determined to have slipped off the tracks.

A gas leak in Glen Burnie caused the temporary evacuation of about a dozen residents and left nine homes without gas Wednesday evening, Anne Arundel County fire officials said. A fire department spokesman said Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. would likely restore gas to the nine affected homes by the end of Wednesday, and that the residents had all made arrangements to stay elsewhere overnight. The 6-inch gas line in the 500 block of Delmar Avenue was accidentally ruptured about 4 p.m. when contractors were working to fix a water main break, BGE officials said.

Lombard Street was closed for about three hours between Greene and Penn streets Friday afternoon due to a coolant gas leak at the University of Maryland Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. A contractor working in the basement broke off a valve to a refrigeration system in a tank that holds coolant gas, said the spokeswoman, Sharon Boston. The gas can be an irritant, so as a precaution the haz-mat team from the city fire department is venting the gas outside, she said.

A chlorine leak at Montebello Filtration Plant No. 2 on Hillen Road in Baltimore Monday morning sent two workers to the hospital, according to a city public works spokesman. The leak occurred around 9:30 a.m. Monday and two workers who were exposed to the chemical were taken to local hospitals, public works spokesman Kurt Kocher said. He could not comment on their condition. Approximately 15-to-20 people working in the plant at the time were evacuated, he said. Baltimore City firefighters and HAZMAT workers capped the leak, which Kocher said appeared to be caused by a faulty cap on one of the plant's out-of-service filtration cylinders.

About 200 people were forced out of an Annapolis Junction food production facility after it was determined that ammonia was leaking from a refrigeration unit, Howard County emergency officials said. Firefighters from Howard and Anne Arundel counties, as well as Fort Meade, were called to the Taylor Farms Foodservice building in the 9000 block of Junction Dr. at about 9:40 a.m. Saturday, where they were able to stop the leak, according to Howard County fire spokesman Adam Nolder. Three employees of the company were evaluated by paramedics but refused further treatment.

Maryland's state government desperately wants you to plug up your leaky house in order to use less electricity. To get homeowners on board, the Empower Maryland program is offering 50 percent rebates of up to $3,150 on retrofit projects that make your home more energy efficient. The goal is simple: reduce electricity usage while reducing Maryland's greenhouse gases. Many homeowners would be surprised at how much they can save on their utility bills - and how quickly their up-front investment gets paid back.  Under the program, Greg Baggan of Canton learned he had been heating the equivalent of three homes, when he only owns one. An energy audit revealed that all the leaks in his home, when combined, equated to a 4 square-foot hole in his small row house.