Overview

• Nearly 200 people packed an MDE hearing at the Perry Hall Library, where regulators extended the written comment deadline to 5 p.m. Oct. 22.
• The landfill seeks authorization to discharge up to 25,000 gallons per day of treated leachate into the Bird River–Gunpowder River system, more than doubling current releases of about 12,000 gallons.
• Agency records show 20 exceedances since April 2023, including repeated copper and zinc overages and an October discharge with more than triple the permitted trivalent arsenic, leading to a $15,000 fine after a 2023 inspection.
• MDE says corrective measures improved treatment and the site has complied with its permit since November, while environmental groups argue the draft weakens protections and could constitute unlawful anti-backsliding.
• Elected officials and residents from Baltimore and Harford counties raised concerns over risks to drinking wells, aquatic life and recreation, and a Baltimore County councilman plans a resolution to oppose the permit and seek to shut down the facility.