A chanting crowd of about 60 protestors gathered outside the C.Burr Arts Library in Downtown Frederick Wednesday evening preceding a hearing about the water which will be discharged from the proposed waste to energy plant.

The meeting was a public hearing required by the Maryland Department of the Environment as a part of the permitting process to allow construction to begin.

One protestor, Dave Twigg, from Tuscarora was concerned about the financial picture painted by the proponents of the plant.

"There will be a $21 million gap between the cost of generating the electricity and for what it can be sold. This amount will show up in the tax bill of all persons in Frederick County," Twigg said.

Protestors were concerned about the relative short notice of this hearing as well as some of the logistics in the hearing room. Greg Smith, an opponent of the the WTE plant, felt strongly that there was an unfair slant toward the supporters of the project when he walked into the meeting room and found numerous displays infavor of the WTE project. They were also concerned that little time was given to the public to comment on the project after officials took up more than an hour of time describing aspects of the permitting process.

The State Department of the Environment has studied the information provided by Wheelabrator Technologies and has tentatively approved a permit which would allow for the discharge of up to 400 thousand gallons of water into the Potomac River via an existing pipeline 10 miles from the waste to energy site in the McKinney Industrial Park. The overwhelming majority of persons attending the hearing were opposed to the WTE project.

An overflow and loud crowd greeted officials as they presented their findings to the public. Jim Connelly a spokesperson for Wheelabrator Technologies, the company scheduled to build and operate the plant for Frederick County, attempted to ease fears of those attending concerning the water which will be discharged from the cooling towers.

"The water for which the permit is being issued will only be used for cooling purposes. It will be clean water coming directly from the adjacent waste water treatment plant. This water will never come into contact with either the burning waste nor gases emitted from the stacks," Connelly said.

The meeting did not provide enough time for all who wished to provide input about the project. Persons who missed the public hearing or did not get the opportunity to speak, may submit their comments in writing to the Maryland Department of the Environment until Monday October 22nd, 2012 via the link below.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE FREDERICK COUNTY WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT CONSTRUCTION CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:

http://www.nmwda.org/fcqa/frederick-and-carroll-county-renewable-waste-to-energy-facility.asp

THE WEBSITE FOR THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT IS AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: http://www.mde.state.md.us/Pages/Home.aspx

MDE Contacts:

chief hearing officer: mrichardson@mde.state.md.us

or

Project manager: rgerler@mde.state.md.us