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| Bay Times September 25,
2002:
Treatment plant being challenged By Jack Shaum Staff Writer, The Bay Times, September 25, 2002 STEVENSVILLE - The new sewage treatment plant planned for Kent Island is being challenged on two fronts. Several Kent Island residents and the Kent Island Defense League, are contesting the technical merits of the discharge permit for the proposed plant. Annapolis attorney Thomas Deming, representing Dr. Earl and Jane Chambers, Edwin Krozack and the Kent Island Defense League, requested in a Sept. 23 letter that the Maryland Department of the Environment hold a contested case hearing on the permit application. "They're concerned that the major impetus for the plant was new development, including Four Seasons, and that bothers them," Deming said. The Chambers, who live on Love Point Road, are worried that discharges from the plant could affect the waters around their property. Deming said he was told by MDE that just filing the challenge prevents the permit from being issued. He said it would be delayed even further if the department orders a hearing on the challenge. That was confirmed by MDE spokesman Rich McIntire. He could not say when MDE would make a decision on the filing. In a separate development, all 11 county commissioner candidates have asked the Department of the Environment to put all deliberations on the new sewage treatment plant on hold. In a letter dated Sept. 20, the candidates asked that consideration of the plant be "temporarily suspended until after the new set of commissioners can review the facts and finances" pertaining to the project. They argued that since the incumbent commissioners were defeated for re-election that the new board should be allowed to "made the decisions that will affect the future quality of life and financial well-being of the citizens of Queen Anne's County." Del. Wheeler R. Baker, D-36th - Queen Anne's, also signed the letter in the hope that several birds could be killed with one stone. "I've been voicing concern over the lack of proper planning for transportation -- specifically overpasses -- on Kent Island for a long time, and nothing's happened," he said. "So I thought that if we could get the sewage plant put on hold, we could get the transportation issues on the table at the same time. "Besides, I think the current board should fall back, take it easy and let the new board consider all these projects. The developers won't like it, but the people will." Benjamin F. Cassell Jr., Republican candidate for commissioner-at-large, said that a number of questions about the plant remain unanswered. "Do we need a new one or can the existing one be upgraded?" asked Cassell, who favors improving the current plant. Bids were opened Aug. 21 on the project, with Fru-con Construction of Woodbridge, Virginia offering a low bid of $28.7 million. That bid requires a review by the Maryland Department of the Environment. That review is currently underway. The project is expected to take 26 months to complete once the final go-ahead is given. Several other items of
interest are in this week's Bay Times (9/25), so pick up a copy if you
don't already get it:
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