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Strange silence from Maryland politicians on Sparrows Point pollution

July 22, 2010 at 3:41 pm 17

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-ANALYSIS-

This is not a story about shirtsleeves-rolled-up politicians expressing disgust at polluted beaches and demanding compensation from the corporation that caused the damage.

It’s a story of silence and political timidity.

Maryland’s top elected officials have scrupulously avoided taking a stand on the pollution of supposedly-protected harbor waters by Severstal Sparrows Point. This comes despite more than a year of publicity about widespread problems at the steel mill, which straddles communities with more than 20,000 Maryland residents and lies only three miles from the ecologically fragile Chesapeake Bay.

Just last month, a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) likened the leakage of benzene from Sparrows Point into Baltimore harbor to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Groundwater samples have revealed concentrations of the known carcinogen as high as 100,000 times what is considered safe. A “benzene plume” has been detected migrating across the harbor toward the Baltimore County community of Turners Station.

Mum’s the word

One might think that such findings would stir the Maryland political establishment to action. But with the exception of Dundalk state Senator Norman Stone and Delegate Johnny Olszewski, no officeholder in Annapolis or Washington has shown more than fleeting interest in why, 13 years after a court-ordered cleanup, the steel mill continues to spew out pollutants.

Let’s start with Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley. He’s made cleaning up Chesapeake Bay a key platform of his administration. But a google search of his press releases and statements indicate that he has not addressed the swirling controversy over Sparrows Point pollution. This contrasts to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who recently demanded answers about large piles of steel wastes found at an ArcelorMittal plant along Lake Michigan.

And while O’Malley made a trip on MARC last month to apologize for a stalled train that inconvenienced 900 passengers, he’s never gone to Turners Station or Dundalk to apologize to residents who have been affected, directly or indirectly, by the mill’s pollution for years.

The normally loquacious C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger, who represents the 2d Congressional District that includes eastern Baltimore County, has been similarly reticent. The ex-Baltimore County Executive came out vocally against a proposed LNG plant at Sparrows Point, but has not made any public comments, according to our search, on steel mill pollutants migrating towards the houses of residents he represents.

Bob Ehrlich represented the 2d Congressional District between 1995 and 2002 and was governor between 2003 and January 2007. Seeking a return to the governor’s mansion on the Republican ticket, Ehrlich and his team have leveled various charges of incompetence against O’Malley. Sparrows Point has not been on their list.

Perhaps Ehrlich has commented on the controversy on his talk radio show. If so, we ask his campaign to provide us with a clip.

You can count on me?

Democrat Barbara Mikulski, running for her fifth term as U.S. Senator, calls herself one of the leading defenders of Chesapeake Bay. “You can count on me to fight to protect the Bay and protect the jobs that depend on it,” she says on her website.

We have not found any statements by the senator addressing Sparrows Point pollution. Mikulski sits on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that approves EPA’s annual budget. In other words, she has clout over national environmental priorities, if she chooses to exercise it.

Junior Senator Ben Cardin sits on the Senate Environment Committee. He has championed a bill to reduce the amount of pollution entering Chesapeake Bay by year 2025, but we have not found any Cardin statement regarding pollution taking place right now at Sparrows Point.

The White House has made restoring the health of Chesapeake Bay a top priority. Calling the bay “a national treasure,” President Obama issued an executive order in May 2009 pledging EPA to lead state governments to achieve improvements to the Bay watershed.

“Through President Obama’s leadership and the commitment of many active stakeholders, we have an historic opportunity to restore the environmental health of these waters and the vibrant economy of this community,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said at the time.

EPA has stepped up pressure on Severstal Sparrows Point to install pumping stations that will extract some benzene from soil and groundwater. But the agency has so far stayed within the confines of the 1997 consent decree, widely discredited as having insufficient enforcement powers.

Study follows study

Last month, Sen. Norm Stone asked EPA official Andrew Fan why regulators were requesting yet another study of pollution when the Maryland Port Administration had already established that serious contamination was coming from the site.

“We’ll be here in 5-10 years … and we’ll still be studying this. We have to get it done. No more studies,” Stone said.

Fan replied that EPA’s rules require the completion of a full panoply of studies before the agency determines a “final remedy” for reducing pollution.

Such studies have been going on ever since the steel mill signed the 13-year-old decree with EPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment pledging to reduce pollution.

Unless someone of the stature of President Obama or Governor O’Malley breaks through this logjam – say, touches down on the “beaches” of Sparrows Point and demands action and accountability – expect more of the same.

Mark Reutter can be reached at reuttermark@yahoo.com.

  • HiVoltage874

    Mark,

    Maybe this is because the politicians, unlike most of this area's media writers, have enough sense to know that too much pressure will cause the mill to close. I know your mentality that this will only cost 2500 jobs, but you are way off on that number. There are 2500 Union jobs at the plant. There are management jobs, contractors, vendors, and several businesses who's sole purpose is to support this plant.

    If the plant were go to down, the actual number of jobs gone in much closer to 10,000. That is 10,000 taxable jobs. 10,000 people NOT on unemployment. 10,000 people buying goods and services from within our community.

    Maybe the politicians know that if we loose that much of the economy in one shot, the county and state governments are in deep trouble with that much lost tax and purchasing opportunity.

    Furthermore, why is it NEVER published that the majority of the pollution came when there were no laws preventing the dumping?

    You have to remember that aside from loss of tax-paying jobs, there will also be the loss of sales taxes, licensing fees, and property taxes.

    So just maybe, Mark, the politicians are just not pandering to a bunch of half informed writers who only publish their half of these stories.

    • Bossusa96

      Well said HiVoltage874….. well said!

  • Steelworker

    I have to agree with Hi Voltage, about this issue. The thing I don't understand is how could the EPA allow this mess to go on for so long. The near-by communities of the Sparrows Point Plant have been concerned since it was Bethlehem Steel. I have worked there since 1978, and I could see the safety regulations go down the tubes more and more, with every prospective buyer. I blame the whole government for all the environmental abuse. Our country is becoming a service industry, more and more.
    There are hardly any jobs. We are plagued with all other issues of the world. This environmental mess is the fault of the politicians, and the greed of these foreign industries that are becoming more of a common thing anymore.

  • PATRIOT

    When Severstal throws up there hands and become tired of the pay outs to the State. Federal Gov, Enviremental Groups, Politicians ,Lawyers also the fines. All Employees could retire at Sparrows Point. I assume that the Witch Hunt is on a specific reason, and that is eliminate Severstal Steel and Welcome the Liquid Natural Gas Terminal at Sparrows Point with open arms, more Revenue for the State and Fed. Gov. Natural gas and a Steel Mill is a bad mixture. Elimination of Severstal, Elimination of Capitalism would be a victory for the far left, Progressives News Media also the Socialist. Stand up and Fight to The Death! UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF AMERICA” ( United Steel Workers?? ) We should look into a Crystal Ball and take good look into the Future of Sparrows Point!

  • Steelworker1974

    Do you really want to know why the politicians are staying away from this? It is because the vast majority of the people see what you and CBF and MDE and the local wackos are doing. Take for example the EPA comment about the problem being akin to the Gulf oil spill. We all know that millions of gallons per day escaped from that well. To liken what is going on there to what exists at Sparrows Point is ludicrous. Do you believe we are all that stupid?

    There are those of us who can think for ourselves, check the alleged facts, and see that while there is a problem it is not the world ending event that you and others seem to infer.

    Credibility is a problem as well. Chesapeake Bay Foundation will never announce that the bay is getting better or even close to being healthy. The minute they do they lose their reason for being. They are just like the government . They always need a real or made up crisis to show that they are relevant. Countless billions have been spent on bay restoration and we are still told that they bay is not improving.

    I am on the bay around Sparrows Point more than most. I see what is going on. Crabs are abundant in Bear Creek as are fish. In fact, just look at the shoreline near Peninsula Highway on a weekend and you will see it loaded with fishermen and crabbers. And this is adjacent to Grays Landfill. Grasses are also coming back there as well.

    You and others talked about the warnings on eating fish from Bear Creek that were issued by MDE. What you did not mention was that the warnings were due to PCBs and they were issued years ago. I do not recall anyone accusing the steel plant of having PCBs in its effluent.

    You also mentioned that recent bottom samples show that things are getting worse as compared to those taken previously. As as aside you did mention that the samples taken recently were not from the same place as those taken earlier. Now how can anyone reasonably say that things are getting worse if the samples are not taken from the same spot? Those studies would not pass scientific muster. But I guess for people who leave their thinking to others like you it would make sense.

    Mark, those of us with brains know that we are being lied to by you, CBF, MDE, EPA, and the local wackos. We know that a problem does exist and Severstal is taking steps to correct it. Absent any real environmental damage I cannot, in good faith, ask them to go any faster.

  • Armcarver

    “Local Wacko”

    I have attended meetings and researched the pollution concerns at Sparrows Point since Bethlehem Steel owned the plant. I have researched the harmful effects of many of the chemicals. I have considered the information provided by each of the Plant owners, MDE and EPA. For the most part these players seem to be on one accord. Therefore little has been done since the issuance of the Consent Decree to make a positive impact upon the problem affecting ground, water, air and the health and quality of life of nearby residents.

    It is the intent of Mark Reutter, CBF, the so called “Wackos” and “Socialists” to improve the health and quality of life of workers and local residents by alleviating or eliminating the level of pollution eminating from Sparrows Point. There is no desire to eliminate jobs! In fact, it seems to me that more jobs could be created if a greater effort was made by the company, the local, state and federal agencies who should be concerned enough about the environment to eliminate the pollution!

    For those of you who are more interested in the financial status of the polluting companies than you are in your health and welfare and that of your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors, I suggest you more thoroughly research both sides of the issue (as I have done). If you choose to do so, also take the time to have some credentialed expert analyze the seafood you get from Bear Creek and publish the results in the Baltimore Brew!

    By the way, the improvements that have occurred have been the result of the “Wacko” and “Socialist” workers towards whom some of you have so much animosity.

    • MungoJerri

      Thanks for saying the S word. It's been twisted hasn't it!!

      I would love to see the results of the Bear Creek Analysis :)

  • Walter

    YOU CAN COUNT ON ME!
    It is Milkukski who said that she is from Highlandtown and that Dundalk was just Highlandtown with grass – can you not hear the Senator’s hearty HA-HA-HA laugh – as the slobber runs out of the side of her mouth?

    Her forefathers came from Poland, where the men labored hard in the coal mines and got Black lung putting food on the table!

    Same reasoning at Sparrows Point – but you get the added bonus of BOTH Black and White lung – but what is a little dirt in your lungs and benzene in your blood – when it pays for the bread and butter in your children’s bellies?

    The politicians know that its jobs for the blue-collar voters and a secure future for our union leaders – what politician would push the issue of pollution at the Point when the cost of doing so would cost the worker, polluter and politician dearly?

    And for the whiners in Turners Station – it is not just the “Historically Black” neighborhood of Turners that that can claim the most smells, polluted water, Kish-fouled air and illness – “Historically White” Dundalk and Edgemere can beat you hands down on the number of steelworkers and residents with cancer – just read the Obit section of the Dundalk Eagle! Thanks to Sparrows Point – no community in East Baltimore has a monopoly on cancer and pollution – the Point is an Equal Opportunity polluter!

    In summary – the politician’s hands are tied, the CBF, MDE, EPA cannot stop business as usual – so let’s bring in the imported slabs and in doing so will make the Point profitable and in the long run add more high paying steelworker jobs! With imported slabs, we will have a leaner and cleaner Point and jobs for the next one hundred years!

    Walter

  • Walter

    YOU CAN COUNT ON ME!
    It is Milkukski who said that she is from Highlandtown and that Dundalk was just Highlandtown with grass – can you not hear the Senator’s hearty HA-HA-HA laugh – as the slobber runs out of the side of her mouth?

    Her forefathers came from Poland, where the men labored hard in the coal mines and got Black lung putting food on the table!

    Same reasoning at Sparrows Point – but you get the added bonus of BOTH Black and White lung – but what is a little dirt in your lungs and benzene in your blood – when it pays for the bread and butter in your children’s bellies?

    The politicians know that its jobs for the blue-collar voters and a secure future for our union leaders – what politician would push the issue of pollution at the Point when the cost of doing so would cost the worker, polluter and politician dearly?

    And for the whiners in Turners Station – it is not just the “Historically Black” neighborhood of Turners that that can claim the most smells, polluted water, Kish-fouled air and illness – “Historically White” Dundalk and Edgemere can beat you hands down on the number of steelworkers and residents with cancer – just read the Obit section of the Dundalk Eagle! Thanks to Sparrows Point – no community in East Baltimore has a monopoly on cancer and pollution – the Point is an Equal Opportunity polluter!

    In summary – the politician’s hands are tied, the CBF, MDE, EPA cannot stop business as usual – so let’s bring in the imported slabs and in doing so will make the Point profitable and in the long run add more high paying steelworker jobs! With imported slabs, we will have a leaner and cleaner Point and jobs for the next one hundred years!

    Walter

  • MungoJerri

    I don't know if it is too crazy to liken the pollution to the BP issue. We know it's bad. We can see it from space. It's like a large plume sitting right there in the middle of the bay.

    It happened over quite a long time, and maybe at first no one cared enough to check to see if there was something wrong with just dumping slag. There are so many other companies that make up the areas around the harbor and the point that I don't think the finger can be pointed at just Sparrows Point.

    Someone said that real environmental damage is absent. I would hope that the public is starting to understand more of what we as a society have done to ourselves. Just because the proof is not in a test tube, or a clearly written medical explanation or in a medical brief, doesn't mean it's not real. The environment is killing people every day. It's not just the pollution, it's what's we put on and in our bodies. Our food supply is contaminated, and most every product on the shelves in the store contains damaging contaminants that are not regulated by our FDA. It may be better to swim in the bay rather than eat at the local buffet or lather all the daily products on ourselves.

    Money, Money, Money. When money gets involved, people loose credibility, and their balls. A candidate must get elected, and then the goal is to stay in office. They must get the money from somewhere. If they speak out against industry, all of the sudden they are anti-worker and anti-corporation. Where's the money going to come from?

    Past Back door deals have screwed our country over, heightened the status of the corporation, and have left our economy in ruins. Everyone is in it for themselves, and not for the good of the people. Isn't it eerie that all we hear when the campaign is hot and heavy is “I'm for the common Man” and “I'll work for you!” Now that corporations are people too, all that has to be done is to get a few of those in the pocket, and it's smooth sailing.

  • MungoJerri

    Thanks for saying the S word. It's been twisted hasn't it!!

    I would love to see the results of the Bear Creek Analysis :)

  • MungoJerri

    I don't know if it is too crazy to liken the pollution to the BP issue. We know it's bad. We can see it from space. It's like a large plume sitting right there in the middle of the bay.

    It happened over quite a long time, and maybe at first no one cared enough to check to see if there was something wrong with just dumping slag. There are so many other companies that make up the areas around the harbor and the point that I don't think the finger can be pointed at just Sparrows Point.

    Someone said that real environmental damage is absent. I would hope that the public is starting to understand more of what we as a society have done to ourselves. Just because the proof is not in a test tube, or a clearly written medical explanation or in a medical brief, doesn't mean it's not real. The environment is killing people every day. It's not just the pollution, it's what's we put on and in our bodies. Our food supply is contaminated, and most every product on the shelves in the store contains damaging contaminants that are not regulated by our FDA. It may be better to swim in the bay rather than eat at the local buffet or lather all the daily products on ourselves.

    Money, Money, Money. When money gets involved, people loose credibility, and their balls. A candidate must get elected, and then the goal is to stay in office. They must get the money from somewhere. If they speak out against industry, all of the sudden they are anti-worker and anti-corporation. Where's the money going to come from?

    Past Back door deals have screwed our country over, heightened the status of the corporation, and have left our economy in ruins. Everyone is in it for themselves, and not for the good of the people. Isn't it eerie that all we hear when the campaign is hot and heavy is “I'm for the common Man” and “I'll work for you!” Now that corporations are people too, all that has to be done is to get a few of those in the pocket, and it's smooth sailing.

  • Erwaddell

    Shut the plant down.
    So what if there is going to be 10k people losing their jobs.
    The state should step in and retrain them to do other jobs.
    This state needs to move away from manufacturing and go greener with state sponsored welfare.
    We can buy all our finished products from foreign countries with less stringent standards.
    Lets take the Sparrows Point property and make a new high security prison there, or a casino.
    As far as the clean up, arent we all responsible really?
    We need to clean up everything and not just this century old problem.
    We need to stop water runoff from ferilized lawns, roads, winter salt, and boater pollution.
    We should raise taxes to pay for this, lets say we all pitch in an extra $100 a month to help.
    The steel mill is finally weak enough we can take them down. Then we can go after other plants.

    • PATRIOT

      Here we go again, you don't know what you are talking about. I have an idea, Lets shut down your job all 10K people. Evict you and your family from the Property, tear down the building and Build a Green Job Factory. Then you can go to the Unemployment Office and after that don't forget your Food Stamps. The Government can take care of you. We need Manufacturing jobs to help the Economy, Green Jobs hurt the Economy and eliminate jobs. Research the country of SPAIN and notice all of the jobs that were lost because of the GOING GREEN. Take the time to get Educated and see how the Green Jobs destroyed there Economy and Families, SPAIN is going Bankrupt. Since you like finished products from foreign countries, Eliminate AMERICAN jobs, to me you seem be a Progressive { SOCIALIST }. I suggest that you move to SPAIN. If you or anyone else ” DON'T LOVE AMERICA THEN LEAVE IT “

  • Lindaniteowl

    there are other areas that pollute the bay. Edgewater Beverly Beach is a critical bay area yet the aa county has allowed without applicatrion a resident there to cover the drainage ditch along her house to be covered with a non sufficient pipe enclosed to gain more property which is not hers is actually easement owned by the gov and has been complained against and has neither the county or the home owner done anything to rectify the problem. has caused flooding in at least 7-10 neibors yards well documented and videoed during high rain times and still no one takes a stand. The neighborhood just above the flood plain by a few blocks now gets flooded but sediament control or public works for aa county wont step in to fix it. I was there saw the too small pipe inserted and the ground covered and watched the homes get flooded when it never happened before. I need to know who the hell gonna step in. they came in and investigated and scratched ther asses and heads. hey, re dig the ditch and put it back where it should drain. Damn politicians, the home owner has some ties with nave upper personnel and aa county does this give her right to tale over sediment control and critial area laws? is it who you know and and not what you know? Same person has put cinder blocks a foot away from the street to stop parking in front of house there is a three foot easement there too! kids cant ride bikes or big wheels or scooters there and pull of f if a car coming no room. It is a tiny side street near the beach but stilll there are laws and nobody cares!! what the hell. who do i write too please help.

  • concerned

    I think that people who have opposed this article should do some research to see that many of what the author said is true. The steel plant may provide many jobs to Maryland; however, Marylands main resource is that of the bay. Sparrows Point was once predominantly steel workers but since it had been hit by the flood and the rebuilding of many nice homes in the area, there has been a rise in population of people not working at the steel plant and commuting to work outside of sparrows point. Also lets think from a logical standpoint. Is having an unreliable steel plant that has been through many owners and laid of many people really more important to keep open for the percentage of residents it employees in this state or that even more percentage from those effected by its pollution. Let me know what you think when you get sick with cancer like many of my neighbors from the pollution cause by the point!

    • Skianbfree

      So whats your plan for the “Point”?Do we buy the “Point” from Severstal?Do we put the “Point” on the Superfund site waiting list?Do we retrain the men and women at the “Point” fo new jobs since you want to close theirs?Do we give help to the buisnesses that will be hurt even more by the total shutdown of the “Point”?Its funny to me when i hear the ” many nice homes in the area, there has been a rise in population of people not working at the steel plant and commuting to work outside of sparrows point” line.Did these people both in Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County not know there was a steel mill in the neighborhood before the bought their “many nice homes”?Just like any industry today there is no job security whether you work in a steel mill,law office,resturant.You may come in one day and be told you are no longer needed.So lets close the “Point” and let the state,county,and federal government pick up the tab for the clean up.Let them pick up the tab for retraining the few thousand affected by the shutdown.Lets sue the state,county,federal government for letting this go on for so long.Lets sue the realtors who didnt tell those people about that bad steel mill before they sold them those “many nice houses”

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