Settlement to end medical waste incineration at Curtis Bay after long community opposition
Curtis Bay Energy will end incinerator operations at its Baltimore facility after a major settlement with the state, the company and Maryland environment officials said Thursday.
The settlement -- reached between Curtis Bay Energy and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) -- resolves a complaint for multiple air pollution violations and also requires the company to pay a $600,000 civil penalty, according to a statement by MDE.
Curtis Bay Energy is one of the largest medical waste incinerating facilities in the United States. The company owns the Curtis Bay Medical Waste Incinerator off Hawkins Point Road.
The new agreement "follows years of problems at the facility that include an earlier guilty plea in a criminal case by the previous owner, multiple smoke events and more than $1 million in previous penalties," the statement said.
New agreement long sought by area residents
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said, "For too long, the burning of medical waste has forced Curtis Bay residents to inhale smoke and other emissions. This agreement shuts down the incinerator for good, improving air quality for a community that has carried the weight of industrial pollution for generations."
A spokesperson for Curtis Bay Energy, Maggie Clemmons, confirmed the company had decided to cease its incineration activities at the Baltimore facility.
"The incinerator is among the oldest waste treatment facilities in the U.S. and is at the end of its useful operating life. We are coordinating with local authorities on a safe, orderly wind-down of the facility," a statement from Clemmons said. "This decision reflects the market realities of transitioning away from incineration services for medical waste management. We will continue to seamlessly service our customers through our network of treatment facilities along the East Coast."
Curtis Bay Energy faced multiple legal challenges
In 2023, the company's previous owner pleaded guilty and agreed to pay one of the largest fines in an environmental criminal case in Maryland's history. In that plea agreement, Curtis Bay Energy also agreed to fund an environmental program for the local community.
At the time, the company pleaded guilty to 40 counts related to "systemic, improper, and unsafe handling, transport, and disposal of insufficiently incinerated special medical waste."
Later in 2023, MDE entered into a settlement agreement and consent order with the facility. That order resolved multiple violations and required Curtis Bay Energy to pay a $132,500 penalty and implement operational improvements related to its handling of solid waste.
Then in March 2024, the MDE filed a lawsuit against Curtis Bay Energy that alleged multiple air pollution violations. The lawsuit "documented multiple operational deficiencies that led to emissions in excess of permitted standards, visible and unpermitted emissions of air pollution, and, in one case, a fire," the MDE's latest statement said.
