Wastewater

The Howard County school system is one step closer to building the much-needed 400-seat addition at Glenelg High School. The Maryland Department of the Environment informed school officials last week that it has decided to issue a permit for the high school's proposed wastewater treatment facility that will accommodate the addition - despite concerns of a few residents over possible contamination of drinking water in western Howard County. "The permit is fully protective of public health and state groundwater quality standards," MDE stated in a notice of final determination.

More than $7.1 million in revenue has been collected this year from 175 owners of wastewater treatment facilities as part of the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced today. "The revenue from this historic effort is enabling us to make future generations proud to call Maryland home of the Chesapeake Bay," Ehrlich said in a statement. "I applaud Comptroller Schaefer and the state comptroller office's work with the Maryland Department of the Environment for getting this program up and running so quickly."

Watson's actions merit higher office Spending public money and carrying out the public's business can be difficult and controversial. Five years ago, I was highly critical of the way our school board operated. I pointed to our county council as a model which should be emulated. Since then, each school board member has chosen to resign, not run for re-election, or been voted out of office. The completely new board, headed by Chairperson Courtney Watson, has shown a consistent responsiveness to the public they serve.

People complaining about potential environmental hazards from a wastewater treatment system needed for an expansion of Glenelg High School should be ignored, says County Councilman Charles C. Feaga, a western county Republican. "Those people were anti-growth in the extreme, and some are only recently here," Feaga told a meeting of County Council and school board members Wednesday. He was describing testimony at a state environmental hearing he attended Monday night at the school. The state must issue a permit for the treatment system before the addition can be built.

Howard County school officials remain hopeful about getting state approval for a new wastewater treatment facility for Glenelg High School's much-needed addition, despite concerns over possible contamination of drinking water in western Howard County. Nearly 100 people gathered at Glenelg for a public hearing Monday night before the Maryland Department of the Environment, which must issue a permit for the treatment facility. The crowd appeared evenly split between those who were concerned over the effects of the proposed treatment facility on the drinking water and those who disagreed with that assessment, saying that the crowded high school desperately needs more seats.

Carroll County will save more than $100,000 in fines for temperature violations last summer at its wastewater treatment plant near Hampstead while the county takes its case to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, officials learned yesterday. Carroll Circuit Judge J. Barry Hughes ruled against the county's request that he review the Maryland Department of Environment requirements. But he granted the county's request to stay the imposition of fines and the enforcement of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by MDE in January for one year, or until the appeals court reaches a final decision.

In Baltimore City State proposes $1.4 million payment for false conviction The state proposed yesterday $1.4 million in compensation for Michael Austin, a Baltimore man who spent 27 years in prison on a faulty murder conviction. The amount, calculated by the state Department of Budget and Management, is an estimation of the financial loss Austin suffered because of his years in prison. The award also includes up to $5,000 for financial counseling. The Board of Public Works is scheduled to vote on the proposal today.

With only weeks left before they are forced to begin a nearly $2 million project to cool wastewater from a treatment plant in Hampstead, Carroll County officials are looking to the courts and a state official for relief. Installation of chillers at the plant must go to bid next month, if equipment is to be operating before warm weather arrives. The county asked Carroll's Circuit Court in September to defer enforcement of stringent temperature requirements while the regulations are under appeal.

Out of options and facing stiff fines from the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Carroll County commissioners voted yesterday to spend nearly $2 million on equipment that will slightly lower the temperature of treated discharge from the Hampstead wastewater treatment plant. The county has "followed good science" in trying to address the seasonal temperature increases, which are rarely more than 1 degree, said James E. Slater, the county planning department's deputy director of environment and resource protection.

The Carroll County commissioners expect to decide soon on a plan to lower the temperature of treated water discharged from the county's wastewater treatment plant near Hampstead. The cost of correcting the temperature is estimated to cost as much as $2.2 million, Carroll Comptroller Eugene Curfman said. But until a specific remedy is chosen, he said the cost won't be known for sure. The commissioners voted unanimously last week to allow the county to incur the debt. Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge, a former mayor of Hampstead, said the temperature of the water discharged into Piney Run is 1 to 1 1/2 degrees too high, on average, but nonetheless must be lowered.