Water Supply

The Sun's editorial "Go slow on shale drilling" (Feb. 14) points out very well the risks of mining for gas by using hydraulic fracturing. But one risk not mentioned and that needs to be emphasized is the fact that if the amount of water needed for high volume hydraulic fracturing is used, the fresh water supply for ourselves and our children will be endangered. High volume fracturing, which digs down to 10,000 feet to create fractures in shale through which natural gas can flow for collection, necessitates using millions of gallons of fresh water for each well; because it will be contaminated, this water will probably not be returned to the watershed.

Maryland is fortunate to have many beautiful parks, rivers and streams, breathtaking views, delicious fish and shellfish and enjoyable recreational opportunities, from our nation's largest estuary to the snow-capped mountains in Western Maryland. Throughout our history, we have not done enough to protect these treasures and the water that links them, allowing them to deteriorate and their ecosystems to suffer. Under Gov.Martin O'Malley's leadership, though, things have started to turn around.

Central Special School is expected to reopen today, with a water tank pumping fresh water into the Edgewater school for NTC severely disabled children.Contractors and school employees were to work through the night to set up the temporary water line with a tanker and pump, said spokeswoman Jane Doyle.The school has been closed for three days because the water supply for the five-school South River complex was found to be contaminated with solvents Oct. 3. Since Friday, bottled water has been in use at the other four schools while water lines were being flushed and water samples tested.

The following letter was sent to local elected officials and a copy was provided for publication. Regarding the Columbia Gas Transmission Line, Referred to as the Line MB Loop, I am writing to you with safety, environmental and home value concerns relative to the above proposed line. Columbia Gas Transmission is either unwilling or has not authorized representatives to answer any of our hard questions. The issues as we see it are as follows: There is an existing eight-inch non pressurized line approximately 150 yards from our house.

ACCORDING to Governor Smart Water and the Solons of Mount Airy, the drought of '99 is officially over. No longer will the mud-coated cars of Southwest Carroll be paraded as a sign of civic-minded conservation. No longer will South Carroll residents wonder whether they are entitled to water their posies on an odd-numbered day or an even-numbered day. The automatic car washes may resume business. As the French might say, "apres Floyd, le deluge." Others of us might say, oxymoronically, "Conservation is a terrible thing to waste."

The Westminster Common Council voted last night to pursue a $2.5 million state loan that would help the city tap an emergency water supply through a permanent underground pipeline. The city would use the money to build a 5.5-mile emergency water main connection that would connect a quarry outside Westminster to a State Highway Administration swale on Wyntridst Drive off Route 97. More than a million gallons of water would be available during emergencies. The water at Medford Quarry is free through an agreement between the city and LaFarge Corp.

The Cecil County Board of Commissioners wants to know more about the underground water supply serving the small community of Appleton before deciding whether to approve a planned 300-home golf course development. Officials are worried about whether there is enough water to serve the development proposed by Newark, Del.-based Aston Development Group Inc. and the scattering of homes in this rural section of the county. "Water seems to be the main concern," Commission President Nelson K. Bolender said at the end of a public hearing Tuesday night on the company's request for an amendment to the county's new master water and sewage plan that would allow the developer to use well water and the public sewage system for its project.

Central Special School will remain closed for a second consecutive day today because the water supply at the five-school South River complex in Edgewater has been contaminated by solvents.Meanwhile, county and school officials were to continue tests today and to flush the water system.What caused the contamination remained a mystery, and officials were looking for the source, said John A. Morris, public works spokesman.A teacher at one school noticed a kerosene-like odor from drinking fountain Thursday, prompting officials to shut off water to the complex, he said.

County officials are negotiating with the state and the city of Baltimore to increase the water supply to the Freedom Area, Carroll's most populous region.To proceed with a $5 million expansion to the Freedom Water Treatment Plant, the county would need about 2 more acres along Liberty Reservoir. Once the addition is completed, the plant could process another 2 million gallons a day from the reservoir. The construction and increased allocation need approval from Baltimore, which owns the water and the surrounding property.

A group of residents said they learned a new version of frustration Thursday at a second public hearing on a builder's request for a state water-use permit.At the original hearing, a representative of Frall Developers Inc. kept mum when it came time to explain the request for the permit, needed for construction of a water-sewer system to serve a proposed 500-unit development on 516 acres just south of Mount Airy.That angered the curious residents and prompted a frustrated state administrator to halt the hearing and order the developer to returnfor second hearing with more information.

The Harford County public and municipal elected officials in Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace need to pay particularly close attention three bills on water and sewer issues that are scheduled for hearings before the Harford County Council this Tuesday, March 13, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Though the bills to some degree reflect a move in the general direction of a unified water system for the county, the question whether the county needs such...

Artesian Water Maryland, a subsidiary of Artesian Resources Corporation, announced Wednesday it has completed the purchase of several Cecil County local water systems, including the water system of the Town of Port Deposit. Artesian purchased the water system and assets of the Town of Port Deposit, including access to the Susquehanna River as a water supply, the company said in a news release. On the eastern end of the county, Artesian built an interconnection between its Delaware water utility subsidiary and the Town of Elkton and invested in system upgrades to ensure up to 1.5 million gallons of water a day to Elkton and sufficient additional capacity to serve Cecil County's growth corridor as it develops, the company said.

Editor: An Oct. 14 Aegis editorial noted that justice was served when Aberdeen received $2.5 million from a class action suit in a groundwater contamination case. A gasoline leak contaminated Aberdeen's water supply well with benzene, which causes cancer, and the settlement was for costs the city incurred because of the leak. The editorial noted "Aberdeen has been fortunate insofar as the municipal drinking water supply ... could relatively easily be supplemented by the county's water system.

If you head out to Loch Raven today for the Dam Jam festival celebrating the Baltimore metropolitan area's amazing water supply, remember three things: Texas, Abel Wolman and that thing called foresight. Every time I get into this subject, I reveal my inner nerd and my outer wow. I think our water system, which delivers billions of gallons to 1.2 million of us every year without fanfare or failure - give or take a water main break now and then - is an extraordinary human achievement.

For a jurisdiction that wants to grow but lacks adequate drinking water supplies to do so without relying on others, the Aberdeen city government's recent decision to permit the erection of underground gasoline tanks in an area close to water supply wells used by Harford County is ridiculous and downright shortsighted. The Aberdeen City Council last week voted narrowly to give the go-ahead to Royal Farms to build one of its ubiquitous convenience stores and gas stations at the corner of Newton Lane and Route 7, a half a block away from the busy Route 715 access corridor toAberdeen Proving Ground.

The world's elite have a problem so big it can't even be hinted at in public discussion: There are now too many people to manage. Seven billion and counting, billions more than are needed for human societies to flourish — and thus, most dispensable in this age where technology enables ever more work to be done by ever fewer workers. Global population is projected to increase by 50 percent by 2050, and despite the ongoing pretense that natural resources are infinite, the fact is they are not, and the smart people know this.

The Maryland Department of the Environment has ruled out two possible sources of bacteria in the Union Bridge water supply, and the agency now plans to check a suspected sinkhole near the well on Locust Street.Treated water from the well is safe to drink, an MDE spokesman said when tests started in September. But the agency wants to know the source of bacteria in the untreated water.Dye tests showed no infiltration from the town's sewer system, which is "very good news," said John W. Grace, an MDE public health engineer.

Mount Airy's water supply contains a high -- but no dangerous -- level of a solvent used in dry cleaning, pesticides and manufacturing, officials said yesterday.The chemical -- tetrachloroethylene -- was discovered in a test performed Monday during an investigation to find out what is causing health problems at Mount Airy Elementary School, Town Council President R. Delaine Hobbs said.Carroll school officials will begin providing bottled water to the school today , even though it is probably an "overreaction," said Vernon Smith, director of school support services.

The Sun's editorial "Go slow on shale drilling" (Feb. 14) points out very well the risks of mining for gas by using hydraulic fracturing. But one risk not mentioned and that needs to be emphasized is the fact that if the amount of water needed for high volume hydraulic fracturing is used, the fresh water supply for ourselves and our children will be endangered. High volume fracturing, which digs down to 10,000 feet to create fractures in shale through which natural gas can flow for collection, necessitates using millions of gallons of fresh water for each well; because it will be contaminated, this water will probably not be returned to the watershed.

It's the sort of project that might soften objections to suburban development: a Wegmans supermarket that peddles everything from $6 takeout meals to black truffles that can retail for $400 per pound. But the planned Wegmans in Anne Arundel County, part of a $300 million project called The Village at Waugh Chapel South, has sparked protests from some nearby residents. They fear that fly ash soil contamination at the site — a former dump — could pollute their drinking water.