“Pass Councilman Guthrie’s Amendments” – Guthrie Pleads For Public Help To Bypass Magnolia Incinerator

In a letter last week, Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie asked U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski for help to alleviate health and traffic concerns he believes will be imposed by the massive expansion of the Waste-to-Energy incinerator in Magnolia.

Here are Guthrie’s amendments, help from a fellow council member and an all-out plea for public support during tonight’s county council meeting.

Guthrie’s Amendments:

DRAFT

Amendments To Bill 09-05
Introduced by Council Member Guthrie

Amendment No

On page 2, after line 16, insert the following:

“Section 2. And Be It Further Enacted, that an access road from Route 24 to the facility shall be constructed. Once the access road from Route 24 to the facility is constructed. the entrance to the facility from Route 152 shall be closed.

Section 3. And Be It Further Enacted, that until such time as the alternate access to the facility is constructed. trucks will not be permitted to enter the facility from the Route 152 entrance between the hours of 7:00pm to 6:00 am.

Section 4. And Be It Further Enacted, that once the Route 152 entrance is closed, adequate buffering and landscaping shall be prOVided to minimize the visual impact of the facility from any adjoining road or residential community.

Section 5. And Be It Further Enacted, that only waste generated within Harford and Baltimore Counties will be processed at the facility.

Section 6. And Be it Further Enacted, that there shall be hourly inspections conducted to ensure that the waste being delivered is acceptable.

Section 7. And Be It Further Enacted, that the $3!ton host community fee reimbursed to Harford County pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding shall be deposited into a special account dedicated to community enhancement projects. At least one-half of the funds within this special
account shall be dedicated to community enhancement projects within County Council District A. Any community enhancement project within Council District A which is funded through this special account shall be approved by the County Council. Within 30 calendar days of the end of the fiscal year, the County Treasurer shall issue a report to the County Council detailing the amount offunds within the special account and the projects funded through the account.”

Amendment No

On page 2, in line 17, strike “Section 2” and substitute “Section 8”

Late last week, Councilman Jim McMahan joined the effort:

TO THOSE CONCERNED

Today I took our case for a new Route 24 Entrance to the expanded WTE plant at the Edgewood Area of APG to its highest level yet. Major General Paul Izzo. General Izzo questioned me as to everything I knew about the current status of the project and followed up with specific question to Colonel Jeff Wiseman, Garrison Commander. I feel confident that the initiative Councilman Guthrie began with Col Wiseman and my intervention with Major General Izzo today will result in further constructive consideration of the Rt 24 access to the WTE plant.

I shall keep you informed. If you would like to receive my newsletter also reply to me at thecaptaincares@gmail.com

Captain Jim McMahan
County Council Dist C

Finally, from the desk of Guthrie, this plea:

Last week I sent to you a list of the amendments to Bill No. 09-05 which are my amendments to make the new incinerator plant more adaptable to the community. These amendments are very important to the Edgewood/Joppatowne community. Rt. 152 is the dividing point between Edgewood and Joppatowne and that is exactly where this new incinerator plant will be constructed. If you are familiar with the existing plant, please be advised that the new plant will be 4 times the size of the existing plant and we will go from burning 360 tons of trash a day to 1,500 tons of trash a day. I have made every attempt to get the Administration of Harford County to go along with these amendments; however, they are “vehemently” opposed to my amendments. The only thing my amendments do is force them to put in a new route from Rt. 24 to the rear of the new incinerator plant so trucks will be taken off of Magnolia Road, basically a residential road, and put on Rt. 24 which has no driveway entrances or exits for any residential homes. There are many on Rt. 152.

I need your support to get these amendments passed. Right now I have Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti supporting these amendments and I am not sure if anyone else is. Building this road from Rt. 24 to the incinerator plant will not cost the taxpayers one dime. The increased profit that the County will make from this new plant will easily pay for the cost of this road. Right now, with the existing plant, the County makes $2,791,126 profit after expenses selling steam back to Aberdeen Proving Ground. When the new plant is opened it is estimated that the profit then, after expenses, will be $11,164,504 per year. That will more than pay for the road which is about ¾ of a mile long, which, by the way, APG, through my conversations with Colonel James Weissman, the Garrison Commander of APG, says they will donate the land needed for the road in addition to donating the 34 acres for the new plant which will cost in access of $400 million; probably the largest project in Harford County history.

I NEED YOUR HELP! Tomorrow night, 7:30 p.m., in the Harford County Chambers, we will be voting on the amendments I sent to you last week. If they don’t pass, I doubt very much that we will ever get that road. I have both Senator Barbara Mikulski and Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger working on this from the Federal side. If we pass these amendments, we will force the County and the Army to go forward with this road since they all want this plant in the worst way. I can guarantee you they will not let the lack of building this road come between building or not building this plant. I will need you to show up tomorrow night with as many people as you can get and please make up signs that basically say, “Pass Councilman Guthrie’s Amendments”. You can hold them in the back of the room or at your seats so Council members can see it. This is our last shot. Once those amendments are dealt with up or down, the bill will now come before the Council on March 17th for a final vote and I can guarantee you whether that bill is amended or not, it will pass. If my amendments are not there, I will not vote for the bill.

Thank you.

Councilman Dion Guthrie