Prince Frederick, MD – In one of its last acts of its term, the Calvert County Commissioners Tuesday, Dec. 9 chose to not reappoint a board chairman involved in one of the past year’s most controversial issues. On a 4-0-1 vote—with Commissioner Steve Weems [R] abstaining—the county commissioners elected in November 2010 voted to not reappoint Nicholas A. Graziano to the Environmental Commission.
Graziano, who recently completed his second three-year term on the panel, was the commission’s chairman. He and other commission members found themselves in the middle of the controversy surrounding the plan to convert Dominion Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Plant in Lusby into an export facility. In order to do that, Dominion plans to build a $3.8 billion liquefaction facility at the plant.
The Environmental Commission was established several years ago as a way for the county commissioners, county planning commission and Department of Community Planning and Building to receive recommendations on matters affecting Calvert’s environment.
After the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an environmental assessment of the Dominion project, the Calvert Environmental Commission decided to review the published document. According to the commission’s May 19 meeting minutes, “sections [of the environmental assessment] were assigned to each member for review.”
The project was the subject of a lengthy public hearing Saturday, May 31 at Patuxent High School. On May 22, in a letter signed by Graziano, the commission members stated they had “delineated some concerns with regard to the environmental assessment” after reviewing the published document.
The commission opined that the report was lacking in transparency in regards to water use, safety, noise, recreational impacts, toxics and air quality. the panel then recommended conducting a “hydro geologic survey,” having Dominion Cove Point provide more information about the construction of the liquefaction unit and draft an update of its emergency procedures, evaluate adequacy of evacuation routes, evaluation of noise mitigation adequacy, clarify Dominion’s efforts to avoid impacts on recreational users in the Patuxent River (related to Dominion’s planned offsite pier), verification of plans to handle, store and dispose of toxic substances related to the project and have a third party review cumulative effects of toxins/air pollutants.
Additionally, the environmental commission had urged the county commissioners to conduct a public hearing on the controversial Dominion Cove Point project.
The environmental commission stated it was ready to submit the list of concerns to FERC “on behalf of the board of county commissioners” prior to the June 16 public comment deadline. The commissioners responded that they did not want the environmental commission weighing in on the issue.
At the June 30 meeting of the Calvert Environmental Commission, County Commissioner Susan Shaw [R] told the panel that it was the role of the commissioners to set policy. Shaw stated that the county government was not going to take FERC to task for its environmental assessment of the Dominion Cove Point project. She urged the environmental commission to study other issues, such as the Watershed Implementation Plan.
On Monday, Sept. 29, FERC authorized Dominion to build the liquefaction facility at Cove Point.
Current environmental commission member Thomas J. Brown had submitted his resignation and member Christine J. Yott indicated she was not interested in serving a second term. Only Graziano had indicated a desire to be reappointed. No new applicants had submitted interests in serving.
At the Dec. 9 county commissioners’ meeting—the last for Shaw and Commissioner Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark [R]—Commissioner Evan K. Slaughenhoupt Jr. [R] made the motion to make no appointments to the environmental commission and to send a letter to Graziano “thanking him for his service.”
Later, when The Bay Net asked Slaughenhoupt about his motion, the commissioner stated that he had received information from other members of the environmental commission that Graziano “was being disruptive” during meetings “so it was time to move on.”
The Bay Net had contacted Graziano and left a message with a family member but he had not returned the call as this story was being filed.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com