December 5, 2024

A proposed high-energy power line extending 70 miles from the Baltimore area to Adamstown would threaten an estimated 4,000 acres of farmland, forests and wildlife habitats. It would also require permanent easements on dozens of farms and private properties to site hundreds of 140-foot-tall transmission towers.

SCA joins the Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick County governments, the Maryland Farm Bureau, Preservation Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and a host of regional environmental in opposition to the project. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in late November he had “grave concerns” about the project but has not yet opposed it.

We urge you to learn more online and at StopMPRP.com. MPRP stands for Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project.

Power lines are, of course, a necessary fixture of modern life. When they are justified, we support them and live with the eyesore. But the necessity of this one has been widely questioned. It will mainly provide power to the burgeoning data center industry in Virginia, and not Maryland homes and businesses. But Marylanders will help pay the estimated $424 million cost of the project.

The project also relies on outdated infrastructure. Experts consulted by StopMPRP say more sustainable and efficient alternatives are available.

There are larger issues at play, too. Maryland lacks a coherent long-term energy strategy that takes the environment, the well-being of residents, and climate change into consideration—even as demand for energy is expected to rise sharply over the next decade.

MPRP is still in the planning stages and needs final approval from regulators and the entity (PJM Interconnection) that oversees energy sharing in 13 east coast and mid-west states. The projected date that MPRP would be completed and become operational is June 2027.

The company that won the bidding to build the project is Newark, New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG). PSEG says the project is designed to transport electricity primarily from Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia. To date, PSEG has not shared how much of that energy will end up being used in Maryland.

Notably, if Maryland landowners don’t willingly grant property easements to PSEG, the company could seek “eminent domain” to forcibly acquire their land. This would set a dangerous precedent and open the door to further encroachments on private land across the state. Because of rising demand for energy, projects like MPRP could become more frequent in the mid-Atlantic region. Thus, stopping MPRP could serve as an important precedent.

Environment, Renewable Energy/Waste Disposal/RecyclingSCADecember 5, 2024Comment

Probing Toxic Chemicals in the Ag Reserve

A class of toxic chemicals called PFAS can contaminate water, farmland, wells, and crops. These chemicals have been linked to cancer and other diseases and do not break down in the environment. An organization called PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) is leading an effort to probe whether PFAS chemicals are present—and if so, to what degree—on Ag Reserve land and in water sources.

Testing to date has yielded concerning results. Levels of several forms of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances of which there are thousands) are substantially higher than EPA recommended quantities in drinking water in Poolesville. As a result, the town closed two of its 12 wells. These concerning results also led SCA and Montgomery Countryside Alliance (MCA) to join PEER in January in calling on Montgomery County officials to prohibit the use of certain PFAS-containing fertilizers, called biosolids, on county agricultural land—to prevent further contamination of ground and surface waters.

Environment, Renewable Energy/Waste Disposal/RecyclingSCAFebruary 22, 2023Comment

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