The 20+ Year Battle

  The intent of this website is to inform and offer information to our Forks of the Patuxent residents and surrounding neighbors of the 20+ year ongoing battle against a potential landfill in the Odenton/Gambrills/Crofton area. For 20+ years the residents of the Forks of the Patuxent have battled to keep National Waste Managers and The Halle Companies from obtaining approval for a Rubble Landfill known as the Chesapeake Terrace Rubble Landfill on their approximate 480-acre property located in Odenton, MD, along the west side of Patuxent Road. To many residents this is not news but to those that have moved into the area, looking to purchase a new home, or those that thought the battle was over… please take the time to read and share the information. A Special Exception was approved in 1993 for a Rubble Landfill and a Surface Mining operation following certain conditions. Even after many appeals by the Forks of the Patuxent Improvement Association were made, National Waste Managers’ extensions were granted. Please refer to The Chronology of Legal Events for more details. There were many other legal battles between National Waste Managers and Anne Arundel County as well, and some involving The Halle Companies against the Crofton Civic Association. National Waste Managers’ latest 2-year extension (variance) for their Special Exception has expired on October 19, 2020. A new application has currently been submitted for a 3 year extension. Meanwhile, National Waste Managers has still not met zoning conditions to obtain the rubble landfill permit. On October 20, 2020, MDE sent a letter to National Waste Managers stating that they have ceased processing the permit until they receive notification from the county that zoning requirements have been satisfied. The Forks of the Patuxent Improvement Association has been mired in a legal loop since 2016 on opinions of the courts per a divided ruling. Based off the Court of Appeals decision in 2017, the Board of Appeals appeared to have been instructed to (in some manner) consider what the impact would be on the area of another extension granted beyond 2017. The process of attempting to implement this rubble landfill has taken nearly 30 years. Clearly, the area has changed a LOT in those years.