"Tighter Environmental Controls Sought for Curtis Bay Terminal"

"Environmental groups and some Curtis Bay residents are pressing the state to tighten pollution safeguards at the CSX coal terminal, saying they're concerned about runoff from the busy facility and about black dust blown onto and into their homes."



Coal exports from the CSX terminal have risen sharply in recent years, said Leah Kelly, an attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington-based group. The Baltimore customs district exported 5.1 million tons of coal in the first three months of this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, trailing only Norfolk and New Orleans in volume of coal shipped overseas.

Curtis Bay, with industries in and around it, is also one of the most polluted communities in the state, contended Lauren Randall of the Sierra Club. It and other groups have urged state environmental regulators to impose new requirements on CSX for controlling stormwater runoff and wind-blown dust from its facility."

Timothy B. Wheeler reports for the Baltimore Sun July 4, 2013.

Source: Baltimore Sun, 07/05/2013