Frederick County Official Says A
Monocacy Incinerator Is ‘Unlikely’
By Kathryn Jorgensen
(September 2008 Civil War News)

FREDERICK, Md. — Two bids for a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Frederick County are being evaluated by staff before being presented to the county commissioners. The process is of interest to Civil War battlefield preservationists because a potential site is county-owned land near Monocacy National Battlefield.

However, commission president Jan Gardner recently said at a public meeting that this site is “highly unlikely.” At presstime she noted, “The commissioners have not made a decision yet to move forward with the proposed waste-to-energy facility.”

She also corrected misinformation about the smokestack of such an incinerator. “The height of the stack for the proposed WTE facility will depend upon the location and the air emissions permit. There are many people quoting a variety of tower heights and none of them are correct.”

As for the threat to the Monocacy Battlefield viewshed and environment, Gardner said a site near the wastewater treatment plant across the river from the battlefield was considered for preliminary cost evaluations because the county owns it and it is in an industrial area.

This industrial development, including two large warehouses, already compromises the view from Monocacy Battlefield, according to Gardner. If a WTE plant were built there, she said the stack would “likely be taller than the existing buildings,” but shorter than the county’s highest stack, a 300-footer at the local Essroc Cement Corporation plant, which is visible from the park.

Gardner said, “The county has been very forthright in saying that this site was not necessarily the primary choice or the final location of the proposed WTE facility.” Speaking for herself, she said she does not want to make a decision that negatively impacts any national park or battlefield and has voted against locating other facilities near Monocacy Battlefield.

“This board is very interested and has demonstrated its commitment to protecting the environment and the historic, cultural and archeological features of the county,” Gardner said.

Among those holding the county commissioners to that is the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), which listed Monocacy on its 2008 Most Endangered Battlefields list. CWPT spokesman Jim Campi said the WTE plant smokestack “would be visible from many sites across the battlefield, including the newly opened visitor center’s overlook.”

Even if the plant is not built across from the battlefield “additional threats are on the horizon,” according to Campi. Chief among them is a proposal to widen heavily traveled Interstate 270 between Frederick and Washington, which goes through the battlefield.

“CWPT is working closely with Monocacy National Battlefield to monitor the situation and ensure that all impacts to the battlefield are minimized and mitigated,” said Campi.