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Maryland Department of the Environment
Waste Management Administration, Solid Waste Program
1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 605, Baltimore, Maryland 21230-1719
410-537-3424 or toll free within Maryland 1-800-633-6101 x3424
www.mde.state.md.us

FACTSHEET

SUBJECT:
Refuse Disposal Permit Application to renew the State Groundwater Discharge Permit for the continued discharge of wastewater generated by rainwater percolating through the existing rubble cell floor at the Cunningham Rubble Landfill into groundwater via infiltration/percolation. This landfill is a closed, nonhazardous solid waste acceptance facility located at the end of Capitol Raceway Road, Crofton in Anne Arundel County, Maryland 21114.
Project Manager:
Kassa Kebede, Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Solid Waste Program, 410-537-3424 or toll free within Maryland 1-800-633-6101 x3424
Owner/Operator:
Cunningham Excavating, Inc.

PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING

MDE has made a Tentative Determination to renew the permit for an additional five year term to continue monitoring the groundwater quality at the closed Cunningham Rubble Landfill. The proposed permit allows the Department to set and maintain requirements for the continued monitoring of groundwater quality at the closed rubble landfill and does not authorize an expansion or other change to the closed facility.

An Informational Meeting will precede the Public Hearing to allow the citizens to ask questions concerning the renewal application, and then to formally comment on the Department's Tentative Determination

Written comments on the Department's Tentative Determination and the Permit Application will be accepted until August 5, 2005. Please address written comments to: Mr. Horacio Tablada, Director, Waste Management Administration 1800 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21230-1719.

SITE INFORMATION

Location: The closed Cunningham Rubble Landfill is located at the end of Capitol Raceway Road, approximately one mile north of the intersection of Crain Highway and Conway Roads in Crofton, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The landfill is bounded to the west by the Little Western Branch and to the west by the Capitol Raceway race track.

Size: This permit only covers the existing, closed landfill that was capped in 1997. The closed landfill is located on a 63.5-acre fill area of a 184-acre site.

Site Stratigraphy: The site lies within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, underlain by unconsolidated deposits of gravel, sand. silt. and clay soils deposited uncomformably over the eastward dipping crystalline basement rock. Included in the sediments from the youngest to the oldest are the Patuxent. Arundel and Patapsco Formations, which comprise the Potomac Group.

APPLICATION PROCESS

February 22, 2005, MDE received a Groundwater Discharge Permit Renewal Application from Cunningham Excavating, Inc. for the existing, closed Cunningham Rubble Landfill.

April 6 and 13, 2005, MDE published a Notice of Application Received and Opportunity for Informational Meeting in the Maryland Gazette and Capital newspapers.

April 15 and 21, 2005, MDE received requests for an informational meeting on the Groundwater Discharge Permit Renewal Application.

June 29 and July 6, 2005, MDE published a Notice of Informational Meeting and Public Hearing in the Capital newspaper.

July 6, 2005, MDE published a Notice of Informational Meeting and Public Hearing in the Bowie Blade, Crofton Crier, and the West County News.

GROUNDWATER MONITORING

Based on the most recent data, there are no increasing trends in concentrations of any contaminants. No significant impact of groundwater quality is evident in either the shallow or in the deep aquifers, and no primary drinking water standards are routinely exceeded in the down gradient wells.

There are twenty groundwater monitoring wells around the rubble landfill to monitor the groundwater at the site. The wells are arranged in pairs, as shallow and deep wells designated "A" and "B". The shallow wells monitor the water quality in the uppermost water-bearing unit and deeper wells monitor the water quality in the lower confined aquifer. The upper water-bearing zone flows toward the Little Patuxent River. The lower confined aquifer is part of the Patapsco Formation and serves as the main source of drinking water for domestic use in the vicinity. A thick clay layer that serves as a natural barrier to ground water flow overlies this aquifer.

In accordance with the existing Groundwater Discharge Permit, Ground and Surface Water Monitoring Report: are received semiannually by the Department. Samples are analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), metals, and other water quality parameters. The most recent report from May 2005 indicates that the concentrations of VOCs are below the federal and State Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). Methyl tertiary Butyl Ether (MtBE) was detected in 3 wells at concentrations of less than one part per billion. There is no federal MCL for MtBE and the State Cleanup Standard is 20 ppb. There are exceedances of the MCLs for the metals antimony and cadmium in some of the wells, including upgradient wells, in the most recent sampling event and past sampling events. It is believed that these elevated concentrations of metals are related to high turbidities caused by the use of bailers when sampling the wells. MDE has requested the permittee to use a low flow sampling technique during future sampling events and to investigate the cause of these exceedances.

Cunningham Rubble Landfill

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