Lehigh

As the German-owned Lehigh Cement Co. prepares for growth at its Union Bridge plant, company officials hope to gain permission soon from Carroll County commissioners to permanently store an alternative fuel source and to expand mining at a higher-quality limestone quarry in nearby New Windsor. The county commissioners said they are close to approving an amendment allowing Lehigh to continue storing treated sewage sludge on its grounds. Lehigh officials said theirs is the first cement plant in North America to burn the pelletized sludge, known as biosolids, as an alternative fuel to power the plant's cement kiln.

Senior striker Andrew Wheeler (Patapsco) has already scored eight goals and handed out five assists in six games, leading a fast-starting York College soccer team to a 6-0 record this season and extending the nation's longest Division III unbeaten streak. The Spartans made it 46 games without a loss Saturday by turning back Christopher Newport, 5-2, behind Wheeler's two goals and two assists. His 21 points this season not only easily set the early scoring pace for the Spartans, but he also has a team-leading 29 shots and a team-high 18 shots on goal.

Opponent: Lehigh Valley SteamSite: UMBC StadiumTime: 7: 35Outlook: It's a game between two first-year teams in the A-League's Eastern Conference. The Atlantic Division Mania, 0-2 with four goals given up, focused on tactical cohesiveness, particularly through midfield, in practice this week. Coach Paul Kitson, seeking the team's first goal(s), said he'll try a new combination at forward but wouldn't divulge who. He'll give Brock Yetso or Kori Hunter, both ex-Columbia high school stars, his first start in goal; Mania starter Russell Payne will be on D.C. United's bench.

Information about possible pollutants that was not included in Lehigh Portland Cement Co.'s permit application led the Environmental Protection Agency to order work stopped on a new kiln at the company's plant in Union Bridge, an EPA spokesman said.The action came as Lehigh prepared to pour the foundation for the kiln this month, said David H. Roush, plant manager at Union Bridge, who vigorously disagreed with the federal agency's allegation and said the company may take legal action.The federal Clean Air Act requires that factories file information about three significant air pollutants -- carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and soot -- and outline pollution-control measures before they build.

Officials for Lehigh Portland Cement Co. and the state Department of the Environment have been invited to Philadelphia next week to air their disagreement with the Environmental Protection Agency -- which last week shut down construction of the cement company's kiln.The EPA's stop-work order was the first issued to a Maryland company under the Clean Air Act since Congress amended the law in 1990 to give the federal agency that authority, said EPA spokesman David S. Sternberg and Ann Marie DeBiase, deputy director of the state Air and Radiation Management Administration.

BETHLEHEM, Pa.-- Nicole Council scored a game-high 26 points as the UMES women defeated Lehigh, 70-61, last night.Aileene Frazer added 12 points for UMES (1-2) and Shantwan Dowell had 11 rebounds.UMES held Lehigh (2-1) to 2-for-30 shooting in the first half but led only 29-25 as Lehigh made 21 of 25 free-throw attempts.

In what may very well have been their last home-court appearance, seniors Skip Victor and Josh Williams went out in fitting style at Alumni Hall last night as Navy handed injury-riddled Lehigh its 17th straight loss, 83-50, in a Patriot League contest.Victor, the team captain and inspirational leader, scored 24 points, dished out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. Williams, the 6-foot-11 center, scored all 14 of his points in the second half and added a game-high four blocks.

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- There is a popular theory in basketball that says it is extremely difficult to beat a conference rival three times in the same season.Against all odds, Lehigh proved this point yesterday by eliminating heavily favored Navy, 53-45, in the opening round of the Patriot League tournament.This had all the makings of a classic mismatch. The second-seeded Midshipmen (20-7), seeking their third straight league title and NCAA bid, had won the two regular-season meetings with the injury-riddled Mountain Hawks by 30 and 33 points.

Political leaders and union workers shared their views at a public hearing last night on the proposed expansion of Lehigh Portland Cement Co. in Union Bridge.About 60 people attended the Maryland Department of the Environment hearing at the Union Bridge Community Center. The department has given tentative approval for three air quality permits for the plant, but a series of public hearings are required before the permits are issued.Most of the questions at the hearing came from union members concerned about their jobs.

STOPPING WORK on the $260 million expansion of Lehigh Portland Cement Co.'s plant in Union Bridge is an unusual step that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shouldn't have had to take.But the agency did so last week because it believes that Lehigh should install better equipment to reduce its air pollution. EPA overruled the state of Maryland, which approved a permit after nearly three years of talks with the company, and after the state Department of Environment refused to include EPA proposals in the permit.

A cement plant in Carroll County that is one of the state's top mercury polluters has agreed to slash its emissions of that highly toxic metal and of harmful particle pollution as well, state officials announced yesterday. Lehigh Cement Co.'s Union Bridge plant has voluntarily agreed to reduce its mercury emissions 80 percent by March 2012, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment. That would be a year earlier than the plant would have had to make reductions under new federal pollution regulations proposed earlier this year.

If the 465-foot Lehigh Heidelberg Cement tower were in downtown Baltimore, it would be the fifth-tallest high- rise, an unassuming structure in a busy skyline. But the structure dominates Union Bridge, a pastoral Carroll County town of just over a thousand people that's known for its quaint antique stores. "At night, they light the tower up like Cape Canaveral," said Union Bridge Mayor Bret Grossnickle. "Opinions vary on whether it's an eyesore. It's been around so long that people are used to it."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to require cement plants - which are among the nation's leading air polluters - to reduce emissions of mercury and other contaminants by more than 80 percent by 2013. The regulations are the first seeking to govern what is discharged when limestone, clay and other materials are cooked into the main ingredient in concrete. The proposal would require plants such as the Lehigh Cement Co. kiln in Carroll County to install equipment or make other changes to limit release of toxins.

The Navy women's lacrosse team was outscored 11-3 in the second half in its 15-12 loss at Lehigh yesterday. The Mids dominated the statistics in the first half, outscoring Lehigh 9-4 and outshooting the Mountain Hawks 16-12. Navy also won nine of 14 draw controls. After trading goals to start the game, Navy scored seven of the next eight goals, including two each by Erin Rawlick and Meg Decker, to take an 8-2 lead with 14:24 to play in the first half. Lehigh trailed 8-4 three minutes later, and Mary Ruttum's goal with 3:07 to play closed out the first half to give Navy a 9-4 halftime advantage.

The Navy men's lacrosse team turned a difficult matchup into a demolition. The No. 6 Midshipmen scored the game's first four goals and 10 of the first 11 en route to a 14-3 romp over visiting Lehigh yesterday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. Navy, the four-time Patriot League tournament champion that improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League, has won 15 consecutive games against conference opponents. (The Midshipmen lost to Colgate, 6-3, on March 18, 2006.

Kaleo Kina had 22 points and six rebounds and Navy made 25 of 29 free throws to defeat host Lehigh, 80-75, last night. The win improved Navy's overall record to 12-12 and 5-4 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen are at .500 overall for the first time since Nov. 11 and are above .500 in league play for the first time since January 2002. The Mids swept the season series against Lehigh and won for the second time in a row in league play. The win also moved Navy's Patriot League road record to 3-1. The score was tied at 71 with 1:45 to play, but Greg Sprink made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to lift the Mids.

COLLEGE PARK -- An antidote to what had been ailing the Maryland Terrapins came after Eric Hayes drove the lane and passed to an open Greivis Vasquez in the corner early in the second half of yesterday's game. Vasquez, who entered the game having missed 11 straight three-point attempts, tossed up a pillow-soft three that was good. Vasquez followed with a two-point basket on the next possession, and the Terps (4-2), playing without an ailing Bambale Osby, were off on a 15-0 run and a 72-51 victory over Lehigh (2-3)

Greivis Vasquez looked disgusted. "I don't even think we made any threes," the sophomore guard said after Maryland lost to UCLA on Monday night. "We need to shoot the three better." Lehigh @Maryland Today, 4 p.m., Comcast SportsNet, 1300 AM

Senior striker Andrew Wheeler (Patapsco) has already scored eight goals and handed out five assists in six games, leading a fast-starting York College soccer team to a 6-0 record this season and extending the nation's longest Division III unbeaten streak. The Spartans made it 46 games without a loss Saturday by turning back Christopher Newport, 5-2, behind Wheeler's two goals and two assists. His 21 points this season not only easily set the early scoring pace for the Spartans, but he also has a team-leading 29 shots and a team-high 18 shots on goal.

As the German-owned Lehigh Cement Co. prepares for growth at its Union Bridge plant, company officials hope to gain permission soon from Carroll County commissioners to permanently store an alternative fuel source and to expand mining at a higher-quality limestone quarry in nearby New Windsor. The county commissioners said they are close to approving an amendment allowing Lehigh to continue storing treated sewage sludge on its grounds. Lehigh officials said theirs is the first cement plant in North America to burn the pelletized sludge, known as biosolids, as an alternative fuel to power the plant's cement kiln.