Power Plant

Environmental issues, such as acid rain and global warming, are often too immense in scope to identify with on a personal level. Suppose, for example, you learn that the carbon emissions from oil, coal and natural gas energy sources in 1989 totaled 5,764 tons. Obviously that's a lot of toxic glop ascending into the atmosphere, much of it from power plants and smokestack industries. Individually, what are the rest of us supposed to do about it? We don't own power plants and steel mills, right?

The prospective owner of Sparrows Point steel mill told workers yesterday that he plans to run the Baltimore County plant at full capacity and invest in new facilities, which could lead to more jobs and construction on the 3,000-acre site. Craig Bouchard, who heads the global investment group that is buying the plant, said future projects could include developing an iron ore processing plant and building a new coal-fired power plant. Excess power from the power plant could be sold into the regional power grid, generating profits and helping to alleviate the region's growing power shortage.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Baltimore-based developer of its two Hard Rock hotel and casino complexes settled a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit yesterday, ending a 10-month legal fight. The terms were unclear last night, but the tentative agreement reached in March was for $756 million. Initial terms called for the tribe to pay $231 million -- in $10.5 million annual payments for 22 years -- and lend an additional $525 million to Cordish Co. and its affiliate, Power Plant Entertainment.

If Maryland moves forward with a chicken manure-burning electric power plant, a British company could revive its plans to build the facility on the Eastern Shore. Fibrowatt Ltd. first proposed a plant that would produce electricity from poultry manure nearly 10 years ago, after runoff from grain fields fertilized with chicken manure was blamed for toxic outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida. The microorganism caused fish kills and forced three Maryland rivers to be closed to recreational use. Fibrowatt, which was operating two poultry manure-burning plants in England in 1997 and had a third under construction, offered to build a plant here that would burn about 400,000 tons of chicken manure a year and produce more than enough electricity to supply a city the size of Salisbury.

The Cordish Co. said yesterday that it will develop a $50 million retail and entertainment complex modeled after its Inner Harbor Power Plant project on a 107-acre tract in Hampton, Va.The Baltimore-based company said it was drawn to the site because of its central location on Interstate 64, which links Virginia Beach and Williamsburg in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia."

At first glance, the top of a proposed addition to Baltimore's Inner Harbor looks like a pair of canvas sails billowing in the breeze. On closer inspection, it's apparent that those sails are rising above one of the piers, not the water.Did some misguided mariner make a wrong turn coming out of the HarborView marina? Was this errant schooner washed ashore in a freak squall?Not exactly. This is the design for a $40 million office and retail center, sculpted to evoke a tall ship. What resembles sailcloth is actually the curving glass shell of a nine-story tower, rising from the middle of Pier 4. On the inside would be seven levels of offices above two levels of stores and restaurant space.

There was a threat of war on Pier Four last summer, with the smiling shrimp sign of the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant inspiring fear and loathing among the buttoned-down directors of the National Aquarium next door in the Inner Harbor.Now there is peace, and Bubba is in retreat.The directors of the aquarium and the company that developed the adjacent Power Plant retail complex said yesterday that they have reached an agreement on expansion plans that offered contrasting visions of Baltimore's waterfront.

Capt. Peter Dressler backed the 23-footer into position, taking the slack out of the anchor line and settling the stern on the edge of a current rip in the shadow of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant."

The Chart House had been open on the Inner Harbor's Pier 4 since 1979. But no more. It closed last week to make room for a new and improved Chart House, which will open in the Power Plant entertainment complex -- perhaps by the summer of 2000. While details of the project are sketchy at this point, management does promise outdoor seating, updated decor and a brand-new menu.New at 500 HarborviewThe dining room at 500 Harborview Drive is one of those spaces that keeps food critics happy. Every time I need a new restaurant to visit, voila!

Columbia Electric Corp. said yesterday that it plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant on 70 acres in Charles County to take advantage of both the deregulation of the electric industry and increased consumer demand for energy.The plant is to produce about 550 megawatts of energy, the company said, enough to service about 550,000 homes.Columbia Electric -- a subsidiary of Herndon, Va.-based Columbia Energy Group -- would not disclose the cost of building the plant, but said similar facilities cost about $300 million.

Baltimore County firefighters and emergency responders extricated a man Friday night who had fallen about 120 feet into a coal silo at a Constellation Energy power plant in Bowleys Quarters, a Fire Department spokeswoman said. The confined-space rescue began at 6:13 p.m. at the facility, in the 1000 block of Carroll Island Road, according to the spokeswoman, Lt. Lynn Mullahey. Specialized units were able to remove the man, who had been contracted to perform work in the silo, by 9:01 p.m., she said.

A mostly tidy little stand-off the other night over expanding Constellation Energy's nuclear power complex at Calvert Cliffs was interrupted with the heretical suggestion that the region doesn't need all that new power from any source - or the expanded ability to deliver it. This suggestion comes despite rapid growth in the Mid-Atlantic that has choked electricity transmission lines and invoked predictions of rolling brown-outs within the next several years....

It should come as no surprise that some people living in the vicinity of Key Bridge aren't thrilled by the idea of power plant fly ash showing up at a local landfill. In recent years, the effects of improperly handled coal ash have gotten a lot of attention, from the contaminated wells near a Gambrills landfill to the billion gallons of the stuff that accidentally spilled into the Tennessee River last year. But the question before the Maryland Department of the Environment is whether to allow 7.4 million tons of so-called "coal combustion byproducts" to be dumped in an industrial landfill that was built to higher specifications than the failed Gambrills site and is proposed to be upgraded further.

SATURDAY INNER HARBOR ART FESTIVAL: In this juried show that takes place at the Power Plant, 601 E. Pratt St., and at Power Plant Live, 34 Market Place, 150 regional and national artists offer more than $15 million worth of creative work for sale. Items available include leather bags, clocks, pottery, collages, photographs and jewelry. The event is free and takes place from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Go to artfestival.com. CHARM CITY ROLLER GIRLS: It's a double-header against Philly when the tough-as-nails Female Trouble takes on Philadelphia's B team, Independence Dolls, and the Charm City All Stars' ladies go head-to-head with the Liberty Belles at Du Burns Arena, 1301 S. Ellwood Ave., from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $5-$20.

WASHINGTON - Faced with new evidence that utilities across the country are dumping toxic sludge into waterways, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving to impose new restrictions on the level of contaminants power plants can discharge. Plants in Florida, Pennsylvania and several other states have flushed wastewater with levels of selenium and other toxins that far exceed the EPA's freshwater and saltwater standards aimed at protecting aquatic life, according to data the agency has collected over the past few years.

Cecil man dies in house fire CHARLESTOWN: A Cecil County man was killed early Saturday in a house fire, according to the state fire marshal's office. About 45 firefighters responded to a call just after 2 a.m. in the first block of Edgewater Drive in Charlestown. Authorities said the 71-year-old man was the sole occupant at the time of the fire. It took firefighters an hour to control the fire, which caused $90,000 in damage, according to the state fire marshal. Hanah Cho Restaurants close in Power Plant complex 2 City health inspectors closed Mex restaurant in Power Plant Live on Friday night because of a mouse infestation, officials said Saturday.

THE PROBLEM : The roadway behind the Power Plant lacks barriers along the Inner Harbor. THE BACKSTORY: Downtown workers got a telling demonstration of how important it is to take care when driving near the Inner Harbor. On Oct. 30, eyewitnesses say the driver of a Lincoln Navigator drove at high speed down Market Place, across Pratt Street behind the Power Plant and right off the pier. The driver got himself out of the SUV, and firefighters spent the morning removing the vehicle from the water.

Three environmental groups are calling on the state to crack down on mercury pollution from a Carroll County cement plant and a Western Maryland paper mill, arguing that they are contaminating fish in local rivers, streams and lakes. The two facilities are among the top five mercury polluters in Maryland, according to federal data. But unlike the other three, which are coal-burning power plants, there isn't a specific state or federal law requiring them to reduce emissions. The groups - the Environmental Integrity Project, Clean Water Action and the Waterkeeper Alliance - contend that the state nonetheless has the authority to force reductions.

Gas-fired power plant a step closer to reality Competitive Power Ventures, a Silver Spring-based company that plans to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Charles County, said yesterday that it has largely completed the state environmental permit process. Joel M. Bright, a hearing examiner for the Public Service Commission, has granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity needed to build and operate the plant. His order becomes effective next month unless the commission decides to modify it. The company is in discussions with local officials over the use of reclaimed water for cooling purposes at the plant.

Power Plant Live's bars and clubs seem to have fairly short life spans. In the past several years, the downtown entertainment district has gone through a couple of comedy clubs and a handful of bars. The newest addition is Luckie's Tavern, which replaced the Lodge Bar, which replaced McFadden's, an Irish pub. Luckie's, which opened last month, is a far cry from the Lodge Bar. True to its name, the Lodge Bar had lots of wood and deer heads on the walls. It was an inviting spot but cluttered.