Battle Over Impact of Chesapeake Terrace Landfill Resumes

A rubble landfill located south of Patuxent Road in Odenton would lower water levels from nearby wells by as much as six feet, representatives from the project’s owner said.

Operators of the Chesapeake Terrace rubble landfill are seeking permission to pump out tens of thousands of gallons of rain and groundwater, and need two permits from the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) to move forward.

The wells affected would be located in an historically African-American enclave known as Wilson Town. Residents there have been fighting the construction of the landfill since the early 1990s.

Two representatives from the landfill spoke in front of about 50 residents Monday during an information hearing held by MDE.

“There are very few people who support this, and we know they are not you people,” said Sen. Ed Reilly (R-Crofton) to the assembled crowd. “For an operator to come in and watch while you guys suffer is wrong.”

The landfill would be operated by National Waste Managers, a subsidiary of the Halle Cos., a major real estate developer.

Mark Schultz, an engineering consultant on the project, said there were about eight residential wells that could be impacted from water drawn from the project. But he said many could be completely buried and not properly operational.

“By current standards, these are marginal wells,” Schultz said. “We’ll do our best to find these wells and work with homeowners to address these impacts.”

Schultz said all of the water being pumped out would be clean, and eventually flow into the Little Patuxent River.

The containment and discharge of any water touching the actual landfill contents itself will be addressed in a separate permit addressing stormwater management.

There were some tense moments at Monday’s meeting as residents asked questions about the landfill operations that did not pertain to the water permit. Repeatedly, they were told by MDE officials that they could not discuss other issues about the landfill, including the impact of leachate on nearby groundwater, potential flooding of nearby waterways and the number of trucks traveling in and out.

Those issues, MDE officials said, would come up in later stages of the approval process.

National Waste Managers is seeking approval of a full engineering report, known as Phase III in the application process. MDE officials said they probably would not schedule a public information session on Phase III until at least the fall.

The first water permit from MDE would allow the landfill to draw an average of 31,000 gallons per day, with a maximum of 1,584,000 gallons—the equivalent of a once-every-10-year rainstorm.

The second permit would allow the landfill to draw an average of 39,000 gallons of water per day from a perched water table, and a maximum of 76,000 gallons per day.

Residents have until April 9 to submit comments to MDE. If the water permits are approved, the landfill operators have two years to use them, though MDE officials said the permits would likely be renewed if the landfill were not in operation by then.