Sparrows Point

In a decision that had all the surprise of snow in January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week gave conditional approval to the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and pipeline at Sparrows Point. The agency's choice to side with AES Corp., despite significant environment and community concerns, could be predicted months, if not several years, ago. Certainly, the fact that the 98-page order was issued over the objections of at least two federal agencies that called for a delay, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was no shock.

The Baltimore County Council has twice passed legislation designed to stop the project, and it has been taken to court both times. State lawmakers introduced measures with the same goal in mind, but in two years, nothing has come of their effort. County executives, two Maryland governors and the state's representatives in Congress all have come out against the proposal for a liquefied natural gas terminal on Sparrows Point. But even a collective this powerful faces what could be an insurmountable obstacle: A federal commission has the final authority to decide the project's fate.

It's been years since the owners of Dundalk's Costas Inn had to do little more than cash paychecks and ladle out the beef and gravy to attract the crowds. But the North Point Boulevard restaurant and bar still counts on the hungry steelworkers from down the road. So, when general manager Nick Triantafilos heard yesterday that the U.S. Department of Justice had ordered the sale of Mittal Steel Co. NV's Sparrows Point plant, he was concerned. "Our bread and butter is still the lunch crowd," said Nick Triantafilos, whose parents opened the restaurant in 1971.

Maryland : Economy Unemployment rises slightly Unemployment in Maryland rose slightly to 4 percent last month, the Labor Department said yesterday. The number is adjusted for seasonal variations. But job creation picked up. In the past 12 months, job numbers swelled by 31,600 - not seasonally adjusted, since it is a year-over-year comparison. The state's unemployment rate in June was 3.8 percent, but the state's new 4 percent rate is the same as it was in July 2006. Jamie Smith Hopkins Manufacturing Wheeling-Pittsburgh refinancing credit line Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp.

The company that wants to build a liquefied natural gas facility on Sparrows Point has filed a complaint against Baltimore County and Maryland Critical Area Commission, contending that authorities improperly approved a county law prohibiting LNG and other such facilities from being built in environmentally sensitive coastal areas. According to a written statement by AES Corp. officials, the complaint was filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court yesterday. The commission, charged with overseeing development and land-use policy in coastal and watershed areas, approved a county measure last month that adds LNG terminals to a list of facilities not allowed in its coastal areas.

"Wild Bill" Hagy has a prediction for the 2007 Orioles season: "I think they'll win 90 games." He's got a ticket for Monday's opener at Camden Yards -- and he returned a few weeks ago from a drive to Fort Lauderdale and spring training, where he watched a few games. Born on Sparrows Point, where his father worked in the tin mill, he's a graduate of Sparrows Point High School. In the late 1970s and 1980s at old Memorial Stadium, he led those cheers in Section 34. "I don't know anybody [on the team]

Ruppersberger wants company to withdraw LNG plant application Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is calling upon federal regulators to direct AES Corp. to withdraw its application to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on Sparrows Point. In a letter sent yesterday to the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which decides where LNG facilities can be located, Ruppersberger wrote that the National Gas Act places a strong emphasis on protecting coastal areas. Last month, a federal judge upheld a Baltimore County law that bans LNG plants from sensitive coastal areas such as Sparrows Point.

WORLD Mosque attack organizer killed U.S. and Iraqi forces announced yesterday that they had killed the mastermind of attacks on Samarra's famed Golden Mosque, which sparked sectarian violence across the country. Haytham Badri was killed Thursday when his car caught fire as he fled a U.S. air assault on his home, Iraqi police said. pg 18a S. Asian flood toll rises At least 229 people have been killed in India and neighboring Bangladesh, and 19 million driven from their homes in recent days because of heavy flooding and monsoon rains.

The deal to sell the Sparrows Point steel mill to E2 Acquisition Corp. is in flux as discussions continue while possible new partners wait in the wings. Two self-imposed deadlines have come and gone as ArcelorMittal and E2 and the United Steelworkers union have tried to hammer out a final agreement. Because of the delays, agreements between E2 partners and Chicago Heights, Ill.-based Esmark Inc., which is leading the joint venture, have expired. The global investor group includes Franklin Templeton Investments; Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a Brazilian iron ore producer; and Industrial Union of Donbass Corp.

A plan for Baltimore County to buy parkland next to a high school on the east side won approval of the County Council last night. The measure, approved unanimously, authorizes the county administration to pay $900,000 to a developer for about 20 acres near Sparrows Point High School in Edgemere. County officials say the property, some of which is wetlands, would be used for parks and recreation, perhaps by a high school science magnet program. "At a time when we're losing precious green space, I think this is an opportunity where we can acquire green space and parkland near the water," said Councilman John A. Olszewski Sr., a Dundalk Democrat whose district includes the land.

Baltimore County will buy industrial land in Sparrows Point from the state at a bargain price and lease the property to a local union for a training school. Recent reconfiguring of highways and access ramps along the Baltimore Beltway and Interstate 95 corridor left the State Highway Administration with nearly 12 acres of industrial land and no use for it. With the International Union of Operating Engineers, the county has found a tenant ready to take over the property and build on it. "We are getting property in an industrial area," said Councilman Kevin Kamenetz.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., will hear arguments today in a case that could determine whether a Virginia company can proceed with plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point in eastern Baltimore County. The Maryland Department of the Environment denied AES Corp. a water-quality certification for the project, which would install 88 miles of pipeline through Maryland to Pennsylvania. AES's plan involves dredging the Baltimore harbor so that it can handle the large LNG tankers.

Sun ignores improvements at Sparrows Point The Baltimore Sun editorial "Who's Minding the Point" (June 7) contained several inaccuracies about pollution controls and regulatory oversight at the Severstal Sparrows Point facility. Severstal Sparrows Point operates air and wastewater pollution controls that are the best technology available, extensively monitors the respective emissions and reports environmental discharges that have shown substantial improvement over the last decade. The records, which are readily available, show improvement that comes as the result of extensive efforts by the current owner, Severstal; previous owners since Bethlehem Steel; and the government officials responsible for environmental and public protection.

Decades of steelmaking and related activities at Sparrows Point have left a frightful legacy of hazardous waste. It's gotten so bad that some groundwater samples have revealed benzene levels at concentrations 100,000 times greater than what is considered safe. That means a manufacturer who needs benzene - a useful but cancer-causing chemical - could as easily use Point groundwater as buy the stuff off the shelf. Yet last week, when officials from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper traveled to Sparrows Point to announce plans to sue state and federal agencies over their failure to address this toxic inheritance, there was little evidence of even the most basic pollution controls.

A pair of environmental groups is threatening to sue state and federal environmental agencies as well as the present and former owners of the Sparrows Point steel mill complex, accusing them of failing to clean up pollution of the industrial site and of the surrounding community, as they promised to do 12 years ago. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper contend that toxic waste from the steel-making complex is contaminating the...

A hundred years ago, Sparrows Point High was housed with an elementary school in a 12-classroom building, opened to educate the steel-mill community. Now that building, and the company town, is long gone. But the students, faculty and staff at today's Sparrows Point High in Baltimore County say the school's spirit and sense of history remain strong in its 100th year, even as it has adapted to changing times. The Edgemere school is to officially celebrate this milestone with a centennial festival Saturday; and a dinner was held Friday night.

Sparrows Point residents have watched waterways rich in oysters, crabs and fish deteriorate into lifeless streams. They have daily cleared their cars, homes and swimming pools of kish, a shiny metallic grit emanating from steel plants. Many longtimers can tell by the color of the smoke what chemicals are spewing from the numerous smokestacks nearby. And many endure ailments that could be caused by pollution that has fouled the air, land and water in what state health officials say is Maryland's leading disease cluster.

On April 14, 2009, BERNARD TURNER, originally of Sparrows Point, MD passed away in Oklahoma City, OK after a long illness. Survived by wife, Cheryl, three step-children, five grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Services will be held in Oklahoma City, OK on April 24, 2009.

George H. Gernand, longtime Dulaney High School athletic director who led the Lions to a regional lacrosse championship in 1976, died Sunday of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. He was 82. Mr. Gernand was born and raised in Union Bridge. After graduating in 1944 from the old Elmer A. Wolfe High School, he enlisted in the Navy. "He enlisted on his 17th birthday," said a daughter, Leslie Baldacci of Chicago. Mr. Gernand served in the Pacific as a gunner's mate aboard the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown during the last year of the war. After being discharged, he enrolled at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.

Nearly a dozen government, business and community groups in three states have asked federal energy regulators to rescind approval of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point in eastern Baltimore County and an 88-mile pipeline to Pennsylvania. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have until March 16 to reply. "The number of appeals is not at all unusual, given the interest in this issue," FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said yesterday. "All requests will be addressed.