Complaint filed against Maryland medical waste incinerator facility

The Maryland attorney general’s office has filed a complaint, on behalf of the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), in Baltimore City Circuit Court against Curtis Bay Energy LP for multiple air pollution violations. The complaint asks the court to order the facility to make repairs and impose a financial penalty.

Curtis Bay Energy owns and operates a medical waste incinerator facility in Baltimore and pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges related to insufficient treatment and improper handling of special medical waste, as well as the operation and concealment of an unpermitted discharge outlet. The company agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to the Maryland Clean Water fund and $75,000 to fund a supplemental environmental project. This sentence marked one of the largest penalties for an environmental criminal case administered by the Maryland attorney general’s office.

MDE says inspections and emissions records over the last several months document operational deficiencies at the Curtis Bay Energy special medical waste incinerator, including emissions higher than permitted standards, visible and unpermitted emissions of air pollution and, in one case, a fire. The department says citizens from the local community were helpful in alerting it to black smoke emanating from the facility and provided video and photographs.

“I am disappointed that violations continued after my office’s historic case last year against this company,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown says. “The priority, for all of us who are charged with protecting people, is the health and safety of the community that lives and works around this facility.

“The complaint filed in court by the Department of the Environment is critical. It sends a clear message that no one, including the community, has stopped watching, and if you don’t follow the rules, there will be consequences."

One of the incidents under investigation involved a hopper fire on Jan. 26. Other incidents led to emissions through roof vents instead of passing through air pollution control equipment on twelve occasions in January and February of this year. The complaint alleges the facility exceeded its permitted emissions limits for carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride and particulate matter.

In December, the department entered into a settlement agreement and administrative consent order with the facility, which resolved various violations by requiring the company to pay $132,500 penalty and implement certain clean up and operational improvements related to its handling of solid waste.

The complaint filed today asks the court to impose a penalty of up to $25,000 per violation. Each day a violation continues is a separate violation under Maryland law.

“When the environmental crimes guilty plea against Curtis Bay Energy was announced, we were clear that the Maryland Department of the Environment would remain diligent when it comes to enforcement of regulations,” MDE secretary Serena McIlwain says. “We will not tolerate unlawful practices that threaten the health and wellbeing of Maryland residents, especially those who are already overburdened.”