GOP defends dumping on Delaney over landfill

The landfill was allowed to take in 250 tons per day. But from 2001 to 2003, the daily tonnage increased from 375 tons to about 1,500 tons, according to Hayden.

DEQ noticed several “operational deficiencies,” such as inadequate covering, nonoperational equipment, clogged storm water piping, leachate seeps, and improper management of paint, Hayden’s email says.

Hayden wrote that DEQ revoked the landfill permit in 2004.

A May 2004 Richmond Times-Dispatch story says: “The closure sent National Waste into bankruptcy and spurred the company to appeal the state decision.”

As National Waste Services’ main creditor, CapitalSource Finance LLC helped work out a plan to seek other companies to run the landfill, the story says.

Page County’s administrator, Mark Belton, said in a phone interview that the county took over the operations of the Battle Creek Landfill when it reopened in September 2005.

The Maryland Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters have issued statements supporting Delaney and criticizing Bartlett over the Republican mailing.

Delaney’s campaign blasted the mailing as a “blatantly false attack” and called on Bartlett to denounce it.

But Ted Dacey, Bartlett’s campaign manager, said last week that questions about the mailing should be directed to the Maryland Republican Party. Dacey would not comment on whether Bartlett condoned the mailing or knew about it.

Now, Bartlett is part of a TV ad attacking Delaney on the same issue. The ad says: “Delaney’s company also backed a landfill that was shut down for illegally accepting thousands of tons of trash. It even let polluted water runoff flow from the dump.”

The ad starts with Bartlett introducing himself and saying he approved the message.

During a town hall meeting in Funkstown on Tuesday, a woman in the audience asked Bartlett about the mailing and why he’s not taking responsibility for a TV ad he approved.

Bartlett replied that the National Republican Congressional Committee paid for the TV ad. His name and voice were attached “because they get (a) candidate rate if the candidate’s face is on it,” he said.

He added: “I have not seen the mailer. But my understanding is that whatever accusations are there, that there’s documentation for it. Go read the documentation.”

Alex X. Mooney, who works in Bartlett’s congressional office and is the Maryland Republican Party chairman, said Tuesday that he thought the mailing was fair. He said he did not show it to Bartlett beforehand.

Bartlett is seeking an 11th term in the 6th District. His challengers are Delaney on the Democratic line and Nickolaus Mueller on the Libertarian line.

The general election is Nov. 6.