MIDSHORE II - News

The Midshore II Regional Solid Waste Management Facility is steadily progressing towards its planned grand opening in January 2011.  Major permits and approvals have been received and competitive bidding for a general contractor to undertake the initial phase of construction is now underway.  Construction will begin during Spring and Summer of 2009, and will be substantially complete in the Summer of 2010.   

The initial phase of construction will include development of the site infrastructure, including the entrance, scales and scalehouse, maintenance and administrative building, the initial waste disposal cell and all necessary support facilities.  Improvements to the intersection of River Road and MD Route 480 are also planned, as is an upgrade of River Road from that intersection to the landfill.

MES is also commencing with the planting of what will eventually total 26,000 seedlings at the Midshore II site and on additional property purchased to provide area for forest conservation and wetland mitigation activities as well as borrow soil materials needed during landfill operations.  The plantings of seedlings along the River Road section of the property at the Midshore II site will eventually provide excellent visual screening of the site from the road.  Initial planting will begin in April 2009.  

VOLUNTEERS RESCUE NATIVE PLANTS AT FUTURE MIDSHORE II SITE

On Tuesday, June 5^th, a team of hardy volunteers braved ticks, snakes, a blistering sun and a rutted, branch-strewn landscape to save native plants emerging at the recently timbered site of the future Midshore II landfill in Caroline County.   

Led by Sylvan Kaufman, Conservation Curator of the Adkins Arboretum in Ridgely, nine volunteers joined three Arboretum interns at the site to locate, dig up, and haul out a variety of young plants, including tree-seedlings, ferns, summersweet and hearts-a-bursting.   

The plants will be potted at Arboretum.  Some will be sold or passed on to other native plant societies.  Some will be used for environmental restoration on the Arboretum property.  All will find new homes away from the changing landscape at the future landfill site.   

Five employees of Maryland Environmental
Service participated in the plant rescue. 
Maryland Environmental Service owns and operates the Midshore I landfill in Easton.  

The Midshore landfill takes care of the waste disposal needs for Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties.   

These Eastern Shore counties formed a partnership where each county hosts a solid waste facility for 20 years. Midshore I opened in 1991. Midshore II, on River Road near Ridgely, is slated to take over landfill duties in 2011. In preparation for the construction phase of the new landfill, Caroline County timbered
approximately 70 acres on the designated site.   

“Wherever we operate facilities, we try to get involved with the community,” said Maclane Gibson, Chief of Solid Waste Operations for Maryland Environmental Service.    “Our mission is to protect and enhance the environment for the benefit of the people of Maryland; that goes beyond operating landfills and water treatment plants.  We’re glad to get the opportunity to help an organization like Adkins Arboretum.”   

B                                   Because of its unique location at the junction of the Piedmont and t                                    the Coastal Plain, both northern and southern species of plants can thrive on the 400-acre Arboretum.  Today, over 16,000 visitors enjoy the walking trails and education programs offered at the Arboretum each year.  

Adkins Arboretum was originally planned to be the Maryland State Arboretum on the grounds of Tuckahoe State Park.  The Arboretum opened in 1980, with the mission of displaying all of Maryland’s forest plants.  By the late 1990s, the mission had evolved to focus on the native plants of the Delmarva Peninsula.  In 1998, the State granted a 50-year property lease to the Friends of Adkins Arboretum, and the non-profit group took over management of the site.    

For more information about Adkins Arboretum, click here.

For more information about Midshore II, click here.