Mayor Chris Cerino announced at Monday’s Chestertown Town Council meeting that representatives of Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) have agreed to attend a public meeting at Town Hall on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:00 p.m., “to present the remediation plan for the oil spill to the Mayor and Council.”
It was noted that the plan, whose final form is currently undisclosed, will be made available to the Council before the meeting and that after the Council asks questions, the audience will be given an opportunity to voice their concerns to MDE officials.
The decision for the July 14 meeting plan was the result of a meeting held on June 30 with Mayor Chris Cerino, Town Manager Bill Ingersoll, Attorney Michael Forlini along with MDE representatives Deputy Secretary Horacio Tablada, Chris Ralston and Hilary Miller.
According to a “synopsis” of the meeting, provided as a hand-out by the Town, the meeting was “held at the suggestion of Michael Forlini, Counsel for the Town of Chestertown, to get the latest information from MDE regarding the permit application for oil remediation from the Hospital.
MDE is not required by law to hold a public meeting but agreed to meet with the Mayor, town council and public.
The video includes the Mayor’s overview of the meeting with MDE along with concern raised by Town Utilities Manager Robert Sipes who has been closely involved with the hospital oil remediation process and the test procedures using Ivy-Sol solution to clean up residual oil. Sipes’ explanation of his concern is audio-only, as he was in the audience at the time.
This video is approximately fourteen minutes in length
David Foster says
Anyone who lives near the Hospital and/or drinks water coming from the town wells that lie just a few hundred feet downhill from this oil spill should make every effort to attend this important Public Meeting. Likewise, if there is anyone out there who has never received a notice from the Hospital or from MDE about this spill that endangers our only drinking water supply, I would encourage you to make every effort to come to the meeting to make sure that you are on the mailing list for future such notices.
Unfortunately, there have been far too many “glitches” in the communications system between MDE, the Hospital and the people of Chestertown but we believe all concerned will endeavor to do better. While most of you witnessed the National News Coverage of the recent Oil Spill in California, the Oil Spill in Chestertown was at least twice the size of the one in California, yet because our spill was from a Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST), most of us were largely unaware.