Maryland Trying To Cope With Backlog of Pollution Violation Cases

Maryland is struggling with a backlog of water pollution violations.

"FEDERALSBURG, Md. -- Charles S. Long was upset to discover that a bulldozer had cleared the land next to his, knocking down trees and uprooting day lilies on his property in the process.

A state inspector also found problems with the clearing project: It lacked a plan for controlling sediment pollution, and nothing had been done to keep mud from washing off the land into a nearby creek when it rains. What's more, the landowner, William L. Tarbutton, who lives in Preston, has run afoul of state regulations before — as a contractor, he worked on developments in Queen Anne's and Caroline counties that were cited in 2007 and 2008 for sediment control violations.

Until The Baltimore Sun inquired recently, those two earlier cases were still awaiting action by the state attorney general's office, along with nearly 300 other environmental enforcement cases, many of them years old and most involving water pollution violations."

Timothy B. Wheeler reports for the Baltimore Sun November 29, 2011.

Source: Baltimore Sun, 11/30/2011