Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 

Mirant facing lawsuit in federal court over coal waste 

Action consolidates two coal cases into one legal sweep in federal court 

by Margie Hyslop | Staff Writer 

The state plans to sue Mirant Mid-Atlantic and Mirant Maryland Ash Management in federal court for 

alleged violations of federal and state water pollution laws involving the disposing of coal combustion 

products at disposal sites in Montgomery and Charles counties, state officials said Monday. 

Documents that MDE filed notifying the company and federal officials of the state's intent to sue 

acknowledge that Mirant merged with RRI Energy Inc. to form GenOn Energy Inc. on Dec. 3. 

Unlined pits for disposing of coal waste from Mirant power plants have allowed toxic pollutants to leach 

into groundwater and streams from the Westland site in Montgomery County and from the Faulkner site 

in Charles County, according the Maryland Department of the Environment. 

The agency said the pollution levels do not appear to pose an immediate health threat. 

Discharge samples collected from wastewater collection ponds near the Westland site contained levels 

of arsenic, barium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, selenium and zinc that violated water quality 

standards, according to documents MDE filed Monday. The ponds discharge water into unnamed 

streams, which run into the Potomac River. 

Groundwater monitoring wells near the Westland site, located on Martinsburg Road in Dickerson, also 

showed excessive levels of pollutants found in the pond discharge samples, except for chromium and 

cobalt. 

Wastewater in the ponds is aerated and treated with soda ash, but that treatment is inadequate, MDE 

documents state, because one pond is not lined and another was unlined until 2010. 

Heavy metals sink and leach from the pond into a groundwater aquifer, which also is linked to the 

Potomac, according to the documents. 

Neal Fitzpatrick, director of the Audubon Naturalist Society, said continued dumping in unlined pits 

"sounds like a loud ticking clock," marking mounting threats to the groundwater that most of the 

Sugarloaf and Dickerson communities rely on for drinking water. 

MDE already had filed suit in state court over the Faulkner site, but withdrew that state lawsuit to 

consolidate the cases in federal court, according to the agency's announcement. 

Agency documents say groundwater and discharge samples confirm that pollutants from the Faulkner 

disposal site appear to have harmed Bowling Creek, South Stream and tributaries of Zekiah Swamp 

Run. 

In April, MDE filed suit in federal court against Mirant over similar violations at its disposal site in 

Brandywine. 

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In an e-mailed statement, GenOn officials said the company is proud of its "record of environmental 

stewardship and its compliance with all laws and regulations applicable to its business." 

The statement also said officials disagree "with the Department's interpretation of the Clean Water Act, 

and intends to litigate, if the Maryland Department of the Environment does file suit." 

mhyslop@gazette.net 

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