Anne Arundel County Landfill
Current Site Information
EPA Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)Maryland
Anne Arundel County
EPA ID# MDD980705057
1st Congressional District
Last Update: February
- EPA will provide future updates on an as needed basis.
Smucks Dump Glen Burnie Landfill
Current Site Status
This site was de-listed from EPA's National Priorities List of most hazardous waste sites in the country in 1992.
The Anne Arundel County Landfill site is a 130-acre parcel located in suburban Baltimore, Maryland. The site was used by Anne Arundel County as a municipal solid waste landfill for domestic waste from 1970, until it was closed in 1982. In 1945, 80 acres of the site were used as a gravel and sand excavation operation owned by Harry A. Smuck. During and following the excavation of borrow soils, the site was used as an uncontrolled dump. The Smuck Dump received industrial, commercial, and residential wastes. Open burning was commonplace, and DDT was used to control the rodent population. In 1968, the site had two large surface water ponds into which the residues from the burning were placed. By 1969, most of the 80 acres were used for dumping. Due to the increasing need for landfill capacity, Anne Arundel County took over the site and began operations in 1970. In the late 1970s, the State began to investigate the possible presence of hazardous substances at the site. Monitoring wells installed in 1980 showed that the ground water was contaminated. The Patapsco Aquifer, which lies under the site, is the most productive water source in the County and is an important source of water for public and private wells. An estimated 93,000 people live within 3 miles of the site, which is in a mixed industrial, commercial, and residential area. Approximately 3,000 people live within one mile of the site, and less than 100 live within 1,000 feet.
Site ResponsibilityThis site is being address through a State agreement with the County under the State's solid waste program.
NPL Listing HistoryFinal Date: 2/11/91
Threats and Contaminants
In 1983, EPA sampled 11 ground water monitoring wells and confirmed that the ground water was contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), cyanide, and heavy metals including lead. EPA also found lead and cyanide in the sediments of Furnace Creek. Contaminants in the ground water may pose a threat to people in the area because the underlying Patapsco Aquifer is the major water supply source for municipal and domestic wells. This water system is interconnected with Baltimore's water supply. Contamination found in sediments may pose a threat to the ecosystem of Furnace Creek which borders the site and connects to the Chesapeake Bay.
Maryland's Solid Waste Department and Anne Arundel County signed a Consent Agreement in September, 1990, requiring the County to conduct a Remedial Investigation at the site. After the agreement was signed, the County opposed the listing of the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) due to the use of unfiltered inorganic samples as the basis for listing. In May, 1992, the U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the County. The site was deleted from the NPL in October, 1992. EPA re-scored the site using the results of both filtered and unfiltered ground water samples. The State requested that the site be deferred and EPA agreed. In March, 1997, the State amended the Consent Agreement requiring the County to cap the landfill with clean soil, install a landfill gas management system and a leachate collection system, collect sediment samples, and perform air monitoring.