On Sunday, August 13th the Maryland Sierra Club hosted a hike in Maxwell Hall Park, located in Hughesville. Under a beautiful sunny sky, the group of 26 volunteers, staff, interns, and even a few children, began a lovely hike through the park to a vista where the Chalk Point coal-fired power plant dominates the horizon. Led by longtime Sierra Club volunteer and invasive species expert Marc Imlay, the group learned about the surrounding native plants and even helped remove some of the invasive species. Maxwell Hall Park is open to horses as well, so the group passed some riders also enjoying some time outdoors. The wooded and winding path climbed a few hills, before ending at the water’s edge of Charles Cove.
After everyone arrived to the vista, Fred Tutman, the Patuxent Riverkeeper, provided the group with important context and history about the Chalk Point coal plant and the surrounding ecosystem. Charles Cove is the site of one of Maryland’s worst environmental disasters -- caused by the Chalk Point facility. In 2000, a fuel oil pipeline running under Charles Cove and to the power plant leaked over 111,000 gallons of oil into the water.(1) The next day, a hurricane hit Maryland and carried the fuel oil downriver and into the Chesapeake Bay. This permanently destroyed the local shellfish population, and Fred told hikers how he can still put a shovel in the water and pull out oily sludge.
After a winding walk in the woods, the suddenly imposing and large view of the Chalk Point Generating Station left many hikers in awe. The coal-burning power plant resembles that of a nuclear power plant with two large, wide stacks. Even from a distance, a dim “hum” can be heard from the plant. It is an unnatural sight in a beautiful wild place! Fred furthered people’s interest as he explained the continual issues the local community has with the power plant and the company that owns it: NRG.
Patrick Grenter, a senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club working on water pollution from coal plants, followed up Fred’s discussion of the coal plant’s impact by further explaining how the coal plant is polluting the water. Patrick explained that the MD Department of the Environment is updating Clean Water Act permits for three of Maryland’s coal plants that expired in 2014. Unfortunately, they’re planning to follow standards set 35 years ago that would continue to allow the release of harmful toxins such as arsenic and selenium into the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers as well as the Chesapeake Bay -- a source of prosperity and beauty for Maryland communities. We need MDE to safeguard our precious water and revise the permits to follow modern standards that require Best Available Technologies to be installed at each coal plant. MDE and Governor Hogan will be siding with corporate polluters and President Trump’s regressive environmental policies if MDE doesn’t implement contemporary safeguards for our valuable waters. We need to voice our support for clean water in Maryland and make sure Governor Hogan and MDE know how we feel and what we want!
Weren’t at the outing but you’re ready to take action?
Sign a petition to Governor Hogan at http://sc.org/MDWater
Then join the Maryland Sierra Club's Coal Free Water Action Team!
Fill out the sign-up form at http://bit.ly/mdbcteam to let us know how you can help.
Right now, we need people to talk with their neighbors about the issue and share the petition with their network. Soon we'll also need help engaging other volunteers to take action, including at a series of public hearings in late September!