Residents Speak Out Against Landfill Plan

Residents of Crofton, Odenton and Gambrills packed a school auditorium Thursday night to speak out against plans for a rubble landfill at the end of Capitol Raceway Road.

Citing concerns ranging from pollution to noise and declining home values, residents urged the Maryland Department of Environment to reject the application by Tolson & Associates, which showed off just south of the Piney Orchard and Four Seasons communities.

Nearly a dozen individual residents testified against the proposal, along with representatives from the Piney Orchard Community Association, the Greater Odenton Improvement Association and Greater Gambrills Improvement Association. Andrew Pruski, president of the Four Seasons Community Association in Gambrills, testified against the plan and said the association board would vote on the proposal in a few days.

From Mining Operation to Landfill

MDE has granted preliminary approval of the landfill, which would sit on land once used by a sand and gravel mining operation. It is adjacent to a capped landfill owned by Cunningham Excavating. MDE several years ago rejected a plan by Cunningham to extend its existing landfill, and the application from Tolson is essentially the same. The landfill would collect mostly materials leftover from building construction. 

Residents said they feared Tolson and Cunningham had too close a relationship, and that past problems of groundwater pollution at the Cunningham landfill would repeat themselves.

“There’s no reason to believe tonight that things will be different now or in the future,” said Norm Harvey, president of the Greater Gambrills Improvement Association.

Anthony Gorski, an attorney for Tolson, said that while the Cunningham family owns the property where the landfill would site, it would have no involvement in the operation. 

Chief among resident concerns was the environmental impact of the landfill, particularly from leachate seeping into the ground from rainwater flowing through the debris.

In a presentation, Gorski and consultant Larry Hosmer outlined Tolson's plans to mitigate the impact on the surrounding area. Officials said the landfill would be protected by a heavy plastic liner, with any liquid collected piped out and then trucked to wastewater treatment plants. They also said machinery on the property would emit noise below the levels required by MDE.

A Lack of Public Notice?

Several residents said MDE and Tolson did a poor job of informing residents of the proposal, issuing notice to nearby residents only after Tolson’s application was granted preliminary approval.

Piney Orchard Community Association President Jeff Andrade said residents in his community were unaware of the plans, even though the association owns land right up against the landfill property.

“It is bewildering that as the owner of adjacent properties and as an organization representing over 10,000 people in the adjacent community that the Piney Orchard Community Association has never been consulted over the last seven years by either the applicant or the Department of Environment regarding such a substantial proposal,” Andrade said.

Gorski said that on numerous occasions, he reached out to neighborhood leaders but got no response. Since rejecting Cunningham’s plan for the landfill in 2004, MDE has performed groundwater monitoring, and studies on hydrogeology and geology of the site.

Meanwhile residents also complained about the limited amount of time that Tolson’s application was available for review. The public learned about Thursday’s hearing last month, and documents related to the proposal were made available on Aug. 2. The public comment period closes on Sept. 9.

Reilly Speaks

Sen. Ed Reilly (R-District 33), was the only local politician to speak at Thursday's hearing. While he did not take a stance on the landfill, he did express concern that it not turn out like the PST Landfill in Harwood, which emitted dangerous chemicals after closing. He also said that despite promises that the landfill would be used to bury trash from in the county, 80 percent came from elsewhere. 

Reilly also expressed skepticism that the Tolson landfill would only operate for 19 years, as company officials have estimated. 

"I am betting it will not be closed by the time I am gone," he said. 

Flaws in the Application

Several local residents claimed that when reviewing Tolson’s application, they discovered several unusual errors and omissions. Andrade, for instance, pointed out that some maps in the application did not include Piney Orchard, with one map in particular dating back to 1979.

Pruski, meanwhile, said maps in the application confused the Four Seasons community with the Four Seasons Estates which sits on the opposite side of Waugh Chapel Road. 

“Why this small technical error maybe meaningless to some, it is a big deal if you are a member of the community and are trying to participate in the ‘due process’ in a permit application process such as this,” Pruski said.

Continuing the Fight

It remains unclear whether resident opposition will result in MDE’s deciding to reject the rubble landfill application. MDE representative Martha Hynson said that opposition to the location alone would not suffice, as the property is zoned to allow the landfill and has been part of the county’s waste management plan for years. But an application could be rejected if residents pointed out major concerns with the landfill’s operation.

Community leaders said they plan to hold a summit on the issue in the coming weeks, and will encourage residents to write to MDE during the public comment period.

“We will bombard the public comment period, and we will oppose this with every option available,” Andrade said.