Early-stage construction of an incinerator and powerplant project near Baltimore is at a standstill after the Maryland Dept. of the Environment issued a stop-work order over emissions reductions credits (ERC) needed to comply with restrictions on its air-quality permit.
The plant owner, Energy Answers International, had received an air-quality permit to construct a 120-MW generating station that would combust an average of 4,000 tons per day of processed municipal solid waste at the brownfield site in Curtis Bay, Md., according to the Maryland DOE. The company first had to show, however, that it had offset credits for approximately 1,500 tons of nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter emissions. "Failing to obtain or maintain the emission offsets prior to or during the course of construction is a violation of Maryland's ambient air-quality-control laws,” said a June letter from the Maryland Dept. of the Environment (MDE) to Energy Answers. The letter included the stop-work order, which was sent on June 19 by the Maryland attorney general on behalf of the DOE. The company faces over $8 million in fines if the situation is not resolved, MDE said.