ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

In 1972 the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was created in the course of a reorganization of the Montgomery County government which combined the former Department of Inspection and Licenses, the Division of Environmental Health (of the Health Department), and the Division of Solid Waste Management (of the Department of Public Works) into a single agency. The mission of the DEP is to promote a healthful, safe, and beneficial environment through planning and implementing programs and services which preserve and enhance the quality of the natural environment, conserve energy, and ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations. The Department was originally organized into six divisions, the Division of Housing and Animal Control, the Division of Solid Waste Management, the Division of Resource Protection, the Division of Construction Codes Enforcement, the Division of Public Facilities, and the Division of Research and Monitoring.

In the late 1960s and well into the 1970s, Montgomery County experienced a solid waste crisis as its landfills reached capacity while its population increased dramatically, along with its refuse production. The County Council decided to emphasize resource recovery, and establish programs and build facilities for recycling, material conversion into such products as compost and bricks, and conversion into energy. However, after the failure of a plan to haul the County's refuse to other jurisdictions, the County was forced to launch a thorough but expeditious search for a new landfill site.

The Department has been reorganized several times in order to focus it more strongly on protecting the environment. In Fiscal Year 1997, two functions formerly under the purview of the Division of Solid Waste Services, Department of Transportation, were transferred to the DEP. The first of these two programs involved composting outreach and education, the goal of which is to encourage the onsite management of yard trim materials through composting and grass recycling. A major component of this program is to protect the environment by reducing the amount of materials sent to landfills while at the same time using natural materials without chemical additives to nurture the soil and minimize chemical runoff to streams. The second program is the air and noise monitoring effort associated with the Resource Recovery Facility in Dickerson. These functions are funded out of the Solid Waste Disposal Fund of the Department of Public Works and Transportation, through which its Solid Waste Division manages the County's solid waste with comprehensive programs of detoxification, reduction, reuse, and recycling. Waste is also disposed of in an incinerator which produces electricity, and non-processible waste and ash are landfilled.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder.

PROVENANCE

Not applicable.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records comprise 2.67 cubic feet of material dating from 1967 to 1994, with bulk dates from 1972 to 1978. The materials include correspondence, reports and studies, minutes, maps and charts, and notes. Significant topics include solid waste disposal, resource recovery/ recycling programs, landfill site selection, and Montgomery County landfills.

The records have been arranged in four series:

Series I: Planning

Subseries 1: Administrative Files

Subseries 2: Intermediate Solution

Subseries 3: Ten-Year Plan

Subseries 4: SWAP Files

Series II: Subject Files

Series III: Dickerson.

RELATED RECORDS

Material relating to these records can also be found in:

Record Group 1, County Executive, Printed Materials

Record Group 2, County Council, Montgomery County Council

Record Group 2, County Council, Printed Materials

Record Group 2, County Council, Papers of Neal Potter

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I: Planning, 1967-1981 (1.0 cu.ft.)

The records in this series concern the preparation and implementation of a Ten-Year Solid Waste Disposal Plan, as mandated by the State of Maryland in 1970, which was to address disposal, collection, transportation and treatment. The records consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, and minutes.

The series is arranged into four subseries: Administrative Files, Intermediate Solution, Ten Year Plan, and SWAP Files.

Subseries 1: Administrative Files, 1967-1981 (4 folders)

This subseries documents the County's response to the landfill crisis that occurred in the early 1970s when the operating landfills were reaching capacity and state and community opposition prevented the opening of new sites. It contains correspondence with consultants, material regarding state an federal regulations, and studies and reports.

These records are arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Subseries 2: Intermediate Solution, 1971-1973 (3 folders)

The records in Subseries 2, Intermediate Solution, reflect the County's specific search for new landfill sites. They consist of correspondence, memoranda, maps, and reports.

The records are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 3: Ten-Year Plan, 1969-1979 (7 folders)

The County's Ten Year Solid Waste Management Plan was adopted in January 1974 after more than two years of work by the County Government, its consulting engineers, and citizens, especially the Solid Waste Advisory Panel (SWAP) and its successor, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. The plans described the manner in which wastes were to be stored, collected, processed, transported and recovered or disposed of, and concentrated specifically on resource recovery, recycling, reclamation of old landfill sites and the selection of new ones, and incineration. The records include correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, diagrams, and lists. A copy of the plan itself can be found in the 1974 folder of Box 2, and a 1975 revised plan is contained in the first folder of Box 3.

This subseries is arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 4: SWAP/SWAC Files, 1971-1977 (4 folders)

The Solid Waste Advisory Panel (SWAP) was established in 1971 to review the County's proposals for solid waste disposal and recommend modifications in them. It was succeeded by the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). The records include minutes, correspondence, agendas, memoranda, reports, tables, and a member list. The panel addressed proposed programs as public education and recycling, economic issues, and the new landfill site.

These materials are arranged in chronological order.

Series II: Subject Files, 1968-1981 (1.6 cu.ft.)

This records in this series consist of reports, correspondence, memoranda, notes, and maps, and contain material relating to several proposed landfill sites, especially Site 30, located near the Clarksburg exchange, whose permit the State rejected in 1976. Significant topics include the rail haul of solid waste to other jurisdictions, recycling/resource recovery, the County incinerator at Southlawn, the Gude Landfill, the Rockville Landfill Reclamation effort, and the incineration of medical waste. Public education programs, proposals, and a feasibility study relating to recycling/resource recovery can be found in the Recycling/Resource Recovery folders of Box 3.

This series is arranged in alphabetical order.

Series III: Dickerson, 1987-1994 (3 folders)

This series contains material assembled by the Poolesville Library relating to the implementation of the County's solid waste management plan, which provided for the creation of a resource recovery facility and landfill near Dickerson and a solid waste transfer station at Shady Grove. Permits, notices, correspondence, and maps from state and County officials and the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority make up the bulk of these materials.

Folders are arranged in chronological order.

Box 1

Series I: Planning

Subseries 1: Administrative Files

Consulting Firms: Correspondence, 1971-1981

County Programs: Administrative Items, 1971-1976

Federal & State Programs: Correspondence, 1971-1972, 1977-1978

Landfill Commission, 1967-1970

Subseries 2: Intermediate Solution

March 29, 1971-July 30, 1971

August 2, 1971-October 23, 1971

October 26, 1971-December 31, 1973

Subseries 3: Ten Year Plan

June 1969-December 1971

1972

1973

1974

January-May 6, 1975

May 13-December 1975

February 1976-October 22, 1979

Subseries 4: SWAP/SWAC Files

SWAP, November 4, 1971-October 17, 1972

SWAP, November 3-December 1, 1972

SWAP, January 4-November 14, 1973

Box 2

SWAC, 1976-1977

Series II: Subject Files

Environmental Symposium, 1970-1972

Rail Haul: COG/Lorton Proposal, 1971

Rail Haul: NES/AENCO Proposal, 1971-1972

Rail Haul: Rail Transfer Stations, 1971

Recycling/Resource Recovery: County Assistance to Recycling Center, 1971-1973

Recycling/Resource Recovery: County System, 1972-1973

Recycling/Resource Recovery: County System, 1974-1976

Recycling/Resource Recovery: Feasibility Study, 1972

Recycling/Resource Recovery: Public Education Program, 1972-1973

Recycling/Resource Recovery: Proposals, 1971-1974

Recycling/Resource Recovery: Resource Conservation Corporation, 1972-1973

Recycling/Resource Recovery: Summer Recycling Program, 1972

Recycling/Resource Recovery: SWAP Meets, 1973-1977

Recycling/Resource Recovery: Use of Methane from Landfill, 1979

Sites: Airpark II Site, 1971

Sites: Avery Road Site, 1970-1971

Sites: Black Rock Rd.-Site 7A, 1978

Sites: Boondocks File-General, 1971- June 19, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-General, July 5-October 15, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-General, October 16-November 26, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-General, November 27, 1973-June 3, 1974

Sites: Boondocks File-General, January 5-December 20, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #31, Avery Road, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #6, Comus Road, 1972-1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #10, Dawsonville, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #2, Dickerson, 1972-1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #24, Ednor Road, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #32, Little Bennett, 1973

Sites: Boondocks File-Site #33, Thompson's Corner, 1973

Sites: County Incinerator: Southlawn, 1972-1976

Sites: County Incinerator: Southlawn Traffic Study, 1971-1973

Sites: Gude Tract: 1968-1971

Sites: Gude Tract: 1971-1974

Box 3

Sites: Gude Tract: 1975-1978

Sites: Rock Creek Area Landfill Activities, 1969-1970

Sites: Rockville Landfill Reclamation, 1971-1972

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, January-July 1974

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, August-December 1974

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, January 1975

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, February-March 1975

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, April 1975

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, May-June 16, 1975

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, June 17-August 21, 1975

Box 4

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, September 8, 1975-June 30, 1976

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, July 11, 1975-January 13, 1981

Sites: Site #30, Clarksburg, n.d.

Sites: South Germantown Landfill Site, 1971

Sites: Southlawn Transfer Station, 1975

Special Concerns: Abandoned Automobiles, 1972-1978

Special Concerns: Pathological Waste, 1973-1975

Special Concerns: Pathological Waste, 1975-1980

Special Concerns: Problem with Apartment Buildings, 1971-1972

Special Concerns: Refuse Collection, 1977

Special Concerns: Storage Bags, 1973-1975

Series III: Dickerson

Request for Proposals for a Resource Recovery Facility and Refuse Transfer System, Maps, 1987-1988

Poolesville Library Materials, 1990-1991

Poolesville Library Maps, 1991-1994