|
 Rubble landfill
proposal bubbles up - Developer attempts to obtain proper
permits again The 13-year-old legal battle over a proposed rubble landfill in Odenton enters a new phase Monday as the developer again tries to get the needed permits. West county residents have mobilized to block the 150-acre Chesapeake Terrace Landfill, which would be near the Patuxent Research Center in Woodwardville. "We will be able to smell the stench of that landfill for miles," Stacy Murphy of Woodwardville said. The Maryland Department of the Environment will hold an informational meeting on the permit application at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company on Route 175. State officials and representatives from National Waste Managers, the developer, will be on hand to explain the plans and the permit process. The MDE requires such meetings before it will consider issuing a refuse disposal permit, which National needs to open the landfill. The approval process is expected to take years. "MDE considered the permit for the landfill inactive by the department for several years because county officials had not given the landfill the proper zoning for it," MDE spokesman Richard McIntire said. The amount of legal paperwork filed on the landfill proposal could fill a small landfill itself. National Waste Managers, headed by developer Warren E. "Cookie" Halle, sued the county over its refusal to approve zoning. The county Board of Appeals granted a special exception required for the landfill in 1993, subject to several conditions. That ruling was reversed in Circuit Court and reinstated in the Court of Special Appeals. During these court proceedings, the County Council refused to include the landfill in its Solid Waste Management Plan, another move required before the landfill can be developed. In August 1997, the county was found in contempt of court for refusing to add it to the plan. and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine or notify state officials that the landfill met its requirements. As the court cases dragged on, National Waste Managers' special exception expired, causing the company to appeal successfully to the Court of Special Appeals that all of the county's legal maneuvering caused a unwarranted roadblock to their project. The company, a subsidiary of Silver Spring-based Halle Enterprises, is still suing the county for damages over the delays, Senior Assistant County Attorney Hamilton Tyner said. Through it all, residents worried about the impact of the landfill on their roads, water and property values have done everything from attending court hearings to going door-todoor gathering signatures for a petition against the landfill. They argue a lot has changed since the landfill was first proposed, including the development of nearby Piney Orchard. "Many people I've talked to in Piney Orchard weren't even aware of this landfill," Lisa Cornwell of Woodwardville said. "If that landfill were to leak, it would not only impact our well water and the nearby wetlands, but homes in Piney Orchard as well." --- PUBLIC MEETING WHAT: Meeting on the Chesapeake Terrace Landfill WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Monday WHERE: Odenton Volunteer Fire Company, Route 175. BOTTOM LINE: The Maryland Department of the Environment will hold the meeting, one of the requirements for National Waste Managers to obtain a refuse disposal permit --- Published 12/01/01, Copyright © 2002 The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Used with permission www.stopodentonlandfill.com |
