Carr's Mill Landfill

Last updated September 22, 2019

The Carr's Mill Landfill (JTC Carrs Mill Landfill) is a controversial landfill in Howard County, Maryland in the United States. Its official address is 15900 Carrs Mill Road in Lisbon, Maryland.

Landfill site for the disposal of waste materials by burial

A landfill site is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial. Landfill is the oldest form of waste treatment, although the burial of the waste is modern; historically, refuse was simply left in piles or thrown into pits. Historically, landfills have been the most common method of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world.

Howard County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085. Its county seat is Ellicott City.

Lisbon, Maryland Unincorporated community in Maryland

Lisbon is an unincorporated community located in western Howard County in the state of Maryland in the United States, located roughly between Baltimore and Frederick and north of Washington, D.C.. It is roughly one square mile. Lisbon is located along Interstate 70 and Maryland Route 144 and is home to the first roundabout in Maryland.

Carr's Mill is the second official landfill built in Howard County, Maryland which operated from 1953–1977. Howard County's first landfill was New Cut in Ellicott City, Maryland which operated from 1944–1980. Alpha Ridge Landfill operated between 1980–1997 before the county switched to offsite waste disposal.^[1]^[2]

Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, qualifying it as the largest unincorporated county seat in the country.

The Alpha Ridge Landfill is a municipal solid waste landfill located in Marriottsville, Maryland, once known as the postal town of Alpha, Maryland.

"Bushy Park" and "Carrs Mill"

The namesake millhouse was situated on the northern portion of an estate, near the intersection of modern Bushy Park Road and Carrs Mill Road. Carr's Mill is part of the original estate of Charles Alexander Warfield. Warfield married Elizebeth Ridgley of Laurel in 1771 and settled in a log home at "Bushy Park" in Glenwood, Maryland. The same year he started construction on his slave plantation manor home.^[3] The property later was owned by the "Hammond" family of the Major Charles Family line. The manor stood for over 150 years, burning in 1933 and demolished in 1947. A new house was built over the original foundation. In 1978 the property was purchased by the Clevenger family and had been subdivided down to 342 acres, but was still actively farmed. In 1983 it had been subdivided down to a 190-acre parcel named "Bushy Park Farm" and sold again.^[4] A portion of the original estate became the Carr's mill landfill. Warfield is buried at Bushy Park. The walled cemetery remains, but the majority of the 1300 acre farm has been redeveloped as the Western Regional Park, operated by Howard County.^[5]

Dr. Charles Alexander Warfield (1751–1813) was a prominent American in the Howard District of Anne Arundel County Maryland. He was president of the board of regents of the Maryland Agriculture College from 1812 to 1813.

Located south of Laurel in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, Montpelier Mansion is a five-part, Georgian style plantation house most likely constructed between 1781 and 1785. It has also been known as the Snowden-Long House, New Birmingham, or simply Montpelier. Built by Major Thomas Snowden and his wife Anne, the house is now a National Historic Landmark operated as a house museum. The home and 70 acres (28 ha) remain of what was once a slave plantation of about 9,000 acres (3,600 ha).

Glenwood is an unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is located between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., therefore attracting commuters to those employment centers. The community features acres of open space and is districted to Bushy Park Elementary, Glenwood and Folly Quarter Middle, and Glenelg High schools. Union Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and Round About Hills was added in 2008.

Environmental

Both Carr's Mill and New Cut landfill were reaching capacity in the early 1970s. With the approval and construction of the Rouse Company development Columbia, the population of the county would quadruple while the landfill was in operation. County executive Edward L. Cochran was already starting the controversial process of selection of a new site, when Carr's Mill became a site of hazardous waste dumping by Western Electric in 1976. Howard County spent millions of dollars to cap the landfill and dispose of hazardous materials after contamination of groundwater on the site.^[6] In July 1976, an anonymous tip stated that Francis "sonny" Bohager was bribed $250 from F.P.R Bohager & Sons Inc of Fells Point to allow hazardous waste onsite. Police intercepted two Bohager trucks dumping 101 barrels hazardous materials from Farboil Paint Co. on Key Highway and Western Electric Company by the service road of Carr's Mill.^[7] Western Electric had contracted the company to haul 2,700 barrels of hazardous waste in 1976. In July 1976, police reported barrels of hazardous waste were reported to be found buried at the landfill, but were not investigated further. In December, a task force selecting new landfill sites offered Carrs Mill as a site for landfill consolidation for Western Howard County before shipment out of county which was only implemented at the historic Trinity Church property in Elkridge.^[8] Carrs Mill ceased operations in 1977.^[9]

Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland, United States, and is one of the principal cities of the Baltimore metropolitan area and the Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, rather than merely economics and engineering. Opened in 1967, Columbia was intended to not only eliminate the inconveniences of then-current subdivision design, but also eliminate racial, religious and class segregation. Columbia has consistently ranked in the top 10 of CNN Money's Best Places to Live in the United States.

Dr. Edward Leo Cochran Jr. was a chemist known for his work with free radicals. In 1956 he moved from Orange, Connecticut to his hometown in Clarksville, Maryland and began his career at Applied Physics Laboratory. He also served as the second County Executive of Howard County, Maryland.

Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that served as the primary supplier to AT&T from 1881 to 1996, and to the local Bell Operating Companies until 1984. The company was responsible for many technological innovations and seminal developments in industrial management. It also served as the purchasing agent for the member companies of the Bell System.

In 1991, contaminants were discovered in test wells at the landfill site.^[10] In 1993, 900 drums of waste were found at the same location where the uninvestigated barrels were reported. 30 more were found in September in an overgrown area feeding into the Cattail creek by Geo-Trans, who was performing a $7.8 million contamination investigation at all three landfill sites. Metal detector tests found 100 more drums within 100 ft. John J. O'Hara, chief of the Howard County Bureau of Environmental Services announced to the press there was no way of finding who dumped the toxic waste, despite a police report, markings on the barrels, and a County effort to fine the companies. Ground water tests revealed Trichloroethylene and a form of dichlorothene level far higher than EPA limits. In 1994, the county held an evening meeting announced that day in the Baltimore Sun, to inform residents about the 840 drums found so far by posting a copy of the report in the Public works Building in Ellicott City.^[11] A $2.4 million mitigation plan removed 4,000 tons of soil, capped 8 acres of the landfill trenches, and drilled 14 pumping wells to clean ground water around the site.^[12] In 1997, Waste Management of Maryland (purchaser of F.P.R Bohager and Sons), The Beatrice Company (purchaser of Farboil Co), and Lucent Technologies paid $2.85 million toward cleanup of the site without admitting liability.^[13]

The chemical compound trichloroethylene is a halocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. It is a clear non-flammable liquid with a sweet smell. It should not be confused with the similar 1,1,1-trichloroethane, which is commonly known as chlorothene.

Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company. In 1987, its international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney, creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of its domestic (U.S.) brands and assets were acquired by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts (KKR), with the bulk of its holdings sold off. By 1990, the remaining operations were ultimately acquired by Conagra Brands.

AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies.

Altogether, the Carrs Mill Landfill has been cited with seven EPA Clean Water Act Violations. The landfill site has been renamed to Carrs Mill Park, although no amenities exist onsite and few indications are given to the public about its former use,^[14]

Related Research Articles

Savage is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Howard County, Maryland, about 18 miles (29 km) south of Baltimore and 21 miles (34 km) north of Washington, D.C. It is situated close to the city of Laurel and to the planned community of Columbia. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,054. The former mill town is a registered historic place, and has many original buildings preserved within and around the Savage Mill Historic District.

Oella is a small, historic mill town on the Patapsco River in western Baltimore County, Maryland, located between Catonsville and Ellicott City. It is a 19th-century village of millworkers' homes.

Munisport Landfill is a closed landfill located in North Miami, Florida adjacent to a low-income community, a regional campus of Florida International University, Oleta River State Park, and estuarine Biscayne Bay.

Dorsey's Search is a parcel of land patented by John Dorsey of Hockley-in-the-hole (1645–1714) in Baltimore County. The 479-acre (194 ha) property adjacent to the north branch of the Patuxent river was surveyed by Richard Beard in December 1684, and granted to Dorsey in March 1696. The property lying between "Long Reach" and "Elk Ridge" was resurveyed in March 1723 to include 750 acres (300 ha). After several generations of inheritance, a series of legal disputes were held over the land by Rezin Hammond and Richard Ridgley in 1820. In 1827 the property exchanged hands to Robert Oliver, builder of Oakland Mill, who combined it with multiple properties totaling 2,300 acres (930 ha). George Gaither acquired the property in 1838. John Dorsey's grandson, "Patuxent" John Dorsey of "Dorsey's Search" built Dorsey Hall at the site.

The Howard County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is the enforcement arm of the Howard County court system and services the population of Howard County, Maryland.

The Killing Ground is a 1979 American documentary film written by Brit Hume. The film portrays environmental and human health effects of toxic waste dump-sites in Niagara Falls, New York and other locations. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Burleigh, or Burleigh Manor, is a historic home located at Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, built on a 2,300-acre (930 ha) estate. It is a Federal-style brick dwelling built about 1810, laid in Flemish bond. Also on the landscaped grounds are a stone smokehouse; a much-altered log, stone, and frame "gatehouse" or "cottage," and another log outbuilding, as well as an early-20th century bathhouse, swimming pool, and tennis court. The probable builder was Colonel Rezin Hammond (1745–1809), who bequeathed the manor and 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) to his grandnephew Denton Hammond (1785–1813) and his wife Sara who lived there until her death in 1832. In 1914 the estate was owned by Mary Hanson Hammond with land totaling over 1,000 acres (400 ha) including the outbuildings and slave quarters. In 1935 the Estate was subdivided to 600 acres (240 ha) and purchased by Charles McAlpin Pyle, Grandson of industrialist David Hunter McAlpin. It is currently operated as a livestock shelter. In the late 1960s the property was owned by Mrs G. Dudley Iverson IV.

Waverly, or Waverley, is a historic home located at Marriottsville in Howard County, Maryland, USA. It was built between 1756 and 1800 by different accounts. It is a 2 ¹⁄₂-story stone house, covered with stucco, with extensions completed about 1900. Also on the property are a small 1 ¹⁄₂-story stone dwelling, a supposed combination storehouse and slave jail, a 2-story frame-and-stone corn crib, and the ruins of a log slave quarter. A newspaper account claimed as many as 999 slaves worked on the plantation at one time. It was a property developed on land first patented by Charles Carroll of Carrollton and later part of the 1703 survey "Ranter's Ridge" owned by Thomas Browne. The land was resurveyed in 1726 as "The Mistake". Nathan Browne inherited half of the land in 1756. It was purchased by John Dorsey and willed to Nathan and Sophia Dorsey as the next owners by 1760.

The former Operating Industries Inc. Landfill is a Superfund site located in Monterey Park, California at 900 N Potrero Grande Drive. From 1948 to 1984, the landfill accepted 30 million tons of solid municipal waste and 300 million US gallons (1,100,000 m³) of liquid chemicals. Accumulating over time, the chemical waste polluted the air, leached into groundwater, and posed a fire hazard, spurring severely critical public health complaints. Recognizing OII Landfill's heavy pollution, EPA placed the financial responsibility of the dump's clean-up on the main waste-contributing companies, winning hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for the protection of human health and the environment.

Ringwood Mines landfill site is a 500-acre former iron mining site located in the Borough of Ringwood, New Jersey. Used in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the large Ford Motor Plant in nearby Mahwah, New Jersey for disposal of waste, it was identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Superfund priority list in 1984 for cleanup of hazardous wastes. EPA deleted the site from the Superfund list in 1994 but subsequently relisted the site several times due to failed environmental remediation. Portions of the landfill site were repurposed as land used for affordable housing for the Ramapough people in the 1970s, even though the land was contaminated.

Charles E. Miller (1903–1979) was an American politician and businessman in Howard County, Maryland

Thistle Manufacturing Company factory was a historic factory located along the Patapsco River, which runs through Catonsville, Maryland across from Ilchester, Maryland. The 1800s factory was in continuous operation until 2003.

Oakland Manor is a Federal style stone manor house commissioned in 1810 by Charles Sterrett Ridgely in the Howard district of Anne Arundel County Maryland. The lands that became Oakland Manor were patented by John Dorsey as "Dorsey's Adventure" in 1688 which was willed to his grandson Edward Dorsey. In 1785, Luther Martin purchased properties named "Dorsey's Adventure", "Dorsey's Inheritance", "Good for Little", "Chew's Vineyard", and "Adam the First" to make the 2300 acre "Luther Martin's Elkridge Farm".

Located Glenwood in Howard County, Maryland, United States, Ellerslie Plantation.

Located in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, United States, New Cut Landfill, is also referred to as Worthington Park, Worthington Dog Park, and Worthington Elementary.

Bushy Park is a historic slave plantation located at Glenwood, Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is located on a 3,940 acre land patent named "Ridgley's Great Park".

References

↑ West's federal supplement, Volume 981. p. 382.
↑ Carolyn Melago (26 December 1997). "Old landfill returning to natural state Carrs Mill project will include capping, grass, shrub plantings 'County is very careful' Neighbors pleased with work although annoyed a bit by noise". The Baltimore Sun.
↑ Griffith Families: Being Principally the Descendants of William Griffith, Died C. 1699, Through More Than 300 Years and Twelve Generations, in Male and Female Lines : Primarily of Montgomery & Frederick Counties, Maryland, But Including Numerous References to the Family Found in Other Counties and States. p. 31.
↑ "A True Colonial, Circa 1771". The Washington Post. 16 September 1996.
↑ Joshua Dorsey Warfield. The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland.
↑ Erik Nelson (16 March 1995). "Options offered to deal with contaminated dirt". The Baltimore Sun.
↑ Jacques Kelly (1 December 2000). "Dena Katzenberg, 78, museum textile curator". The Baltimore Sun.
↑ Micheal J. Clark (8 December 1976). "Howard's first-choice landfill site gets a low rating from task force". The Baltimore Sun.
↑ "Maryland Department of the Environment National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Discharge Permit Application Summary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)
↑ Erik Nelson (17 October 1993). "More toxins unearthed at Carrs Mill Landfill 21 drums found neighbors alarmed". The Baltimore Sun.
↑ "Carrs Mill landfill meeting tonight". the Baltimore Sun. 25 May 1994.
↑ "Notice of Letting, Howard County". The Baltimore Afro-American. 3 May 1997.
↑ Craig Timberg (6 February 1997). "$2.85 million deal reached on Carrs Mill 3 national companies paying for cleanup at toxic landfill 'A very fair settlement' None of the firms is admitting liability". The Baltimore Sun.
↑ "Carrs Mill EPA regulated Facility" . Retrieved 20 June 2014.

External links

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[1] West's federal supplement, Volume 981. p. 382.

[2] Carolyn Melago (26 December 1997). "Old landfill returning to natural state Carrs Mill project will include capping, grass, shrub plantings 'County is very careful' Neighbors pleased with work although annoyed a bit by noise". The Baltimore Sun.

[3] Griffith Families: Being Principally the Descendants of William Griffith, Died C. 1699, Through More Than 300 Years and Twelve Generations, in Male and Female Lines : Primarily of Montgomery & Frederick Counties, Maryland, But Including Numerous References to the Family Found in Other Counties and States. p. 31.

[4] "A True Colonial, Circa 1771". The Washington Post. 16 September 1996.

[5] Joshua Dorsey Warfield. The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland.

[6] Erik Nelson (16 March 1995). "Options offered to deal with contaminated dirt". The Baltimore Sun.

[7] Jacques Kelly (1 December 2000). "Dena Katzenberg, 78, museum textile curator". The Baltimore Sun.

[8] Micheal J. Clark (8 December 1976). "Howard's first-choice landfill site gets a low rating from task force". The Baltimore Sun.

[9] "Maryland Department of the Environment National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Discharge Permit Application Summary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.Cite uses deprecated parameter |dead-url= (help)

[10] Erik Nelson (17 October 1993). "More toxins unearthed at Carrs Mill Landfill 21 drums found neighbors alarmed". The Baltimore Sun.

[11] "Carrs Mill landfill meeting tonight". the Baltimore Sun. 25 May 1994.

[12] "Notice of Letting, Howard County". The Baltimore Afro-American. 3 May 1997.

[13] Craig Timberg (6 February 1997). "$2.85 million deal reached on Carrs Mill 3 national companies paying for cleanup at toxic landfill 'A very fair settlement' None of the firms is admitting liability". The Baltimore Sun.

[14] "Carrs Mill EPA regulated Facility" . Retrieved 20 June 2014.