Montgomery County’s Resource Recovery Facility in Dickerson exceeded the state limit for the release of dioxins and furans from one of its units. The company operating the facility, Reworld, and the county are now looking into what happened, according to Executive Marc Elrich.
Part of Reworld’s contract includes maintenance.
On Nov. 11, Reworld Montgomery received preliminary results from an annual test indicating the dioxin and furan toxins exceeded state limits. Specifically, a single boiler in Unit 3 averaged a release of total dioxins and furans of 54.8 nanograms per dry standard cubic meter at 7% oxygen. That is more than 24 ng/dscm above the limit of 30 ng/dscm per dry standard cubic meter for the same amount of oxygen and “well above what is allowed by Maryland law,” according to the county.
As a result of the toxic release, Reworld was issued a violation notice.
During Reworld’s inspection of Unit 3, which occurred after it was notified of the problem, workers found “a significant tear in an inaccessible area of the bag house, which is meant to filter and trap pollutants,” according to a county statement.
Reworld said it repaired that issue and then conducted an engineering test of the unit on Dec. 1. Those results showed that the dioxins and furans being emitted were within the allowable range. Reworld reported that the company is currently in the process of further testing on Unit 3.
It is not yet known how long the toxins were being released into the air and how far they may have scattered, Elrich said.
The county has been examining the best way to deal its waste and is considering shuttering the Dickerson facility and trucking its waste away. Relying on the Dickerson facility “is not a long-term solution,” Elrich said.
About a year-and-a-half ago, Montgomery County agreed to a contract extension. The contract now runs until 2031 with a clause enabling the county to end it sooner.
Currently, the council is mulling over whether it is better to send its trash out of state and pay hauling costs at a landfill in Pennsylvania or Virginia.
Jennifer Macedonia, the county’s Department of Environmental Protection’s director, said Wednesday that her office is trying to obtain as much information as possible concerning the leak and its ramifications.
The county is expected to hire a third-party expert who can evaluate possible health problems to those living in the area, Macedonia said.
The original tests were conducted on Sept. 24 and Sept. 25. They were then analyzed by Testar Engineering over a six-week period.
Reworld officials said they received the results of the September test on Nov. 11.
Reworld employees then conducted an inspection and notified the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) of the results. MDE then issued the violation notice.
This is not the first time the facility has been in violation and most recently was shut down following a series of fires.
Since 1995, the Resource Recovery Facility has processed approximately 600,000 tons per year of the county’s waste.
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