W.R. Grace and Local Community Continue Fight over Plastic Recycling Facility

Since then, the Stop Grace Coalition has used several different avenues to protest the plant’s operation.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): After a two-year-long fight between the Howard County-based chemical company, W.R. Grace, and Howard County community members, Grace was approved to begin building its plastic recycling pilot project in Columbia, Maryland. Their permit was awarded by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) on June 20. 

In a statement released June 23, a Grace spokesperson said, 'With the required air permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) in place, Grace will set up a small R&D pilot lab within an existing building on our campus to study a plastic recycling innovation — one that could reduce emissions, save energy and lower costs compared to existing methods. We are committed to operating in full compliance with the conditions set forth by MDE and appreciate [its] thorough, science-based review, as well as the Howard County community’s engagement throughout this process.” 

The permit approval drew backlash from community members, especially those in the Stop Grace Coalition, which was formed in August 2024 by residents living in the Cedar Creek and River Hill neighborhoods. The Cedar Creek neighborhood is less than a mile from the Grace campus. 

 “Despite receiving hundreds of public comments from scientists, environmental advocates and local residents, MDE chose to side with corporate interests over community well-being,” a Stop Grace Coalition spokesperson said in a press release shortly after the decision was made public. The coalition intends to petition the decision.

The Pilot Plant 

Grace’s pilot plant project is the next step in their inaugural “plastics recycling process” after the conclusion of laboratory testing in a facility in Europe. The project began six years ago as a way to address issues with plastic waste disposal its customers had identified, according to a Grace employee. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a plastic recycling unit that will “reduce emissions, save energy [and] lower costs,” as described on Grace’s website. 

The Grace employee explained that the pilot unit is roughly the size of a one-car garage and will be used exclusively for research purposes at the Howard County location. In this unit, Grace scientists aim to convert plastic pellets into “potentially energy-containing liquids and gas,” using a chemical catalyst. 

The Grace employee noted that since this pilot unit is not being used for manufacturing purposes, the products that would otherwise go to customers’ systems will instead be disposed of after they are analyzed. The products – liquid and gas – will be disposed of in two ways at the research facility. The liquid will be stored in drums and managed by a waste disposal company that Grace works with. The gas will be treated in a “flameless thermal oxidizer,” which the employee claimed has a 99.99% effectiveness, where it will be broken down into carbon dioxide and water. 

Grace equated the daily emissions that the project would release to about the same amount of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides as a car driving 0.2 miles and 10 miles, respectively, less carbon dioxide than a car using 4 gallons of gasoline, and about as much VOCs as a fourth to a half gallon of paint. Grace claimed that the pilot project will not impact the health or wellbeing of the surrounding communities nor will it affect the water stream.

The MDE also informed community members in a June 18 letter that: “The Department is satisfied that there will be no adverse impact to public health or the environment.”

Community Concerns

The primary concern for many in the Stop Grace Coalition is the proximity of the plant to the Cedar Creek neighborhood. Cedar Creek resident René Maldonado noted that the closest home in the neighborhood is about a football field’s length away from the Grace campus. 

“There’s no margin for error,” Maldonado said. Maldonado, who holds a doctorate in physical chemistry and worked in the chemical plant industry for 33 years, acknowledged that he would be less concerned about the project if it were operating in a secluded area, as he noted is common with chemical plants.

Maldonado worried about accidents occurring from the high temperatures in the plant and the storage of the newly converted liquid. “The idea of having drums of a flammable liquid stored and moved about just a few yards away from residences is a major concern to the community.  This activity can lead to the release of toxic fumes, leaks and spills, and of course, accidental ignition. The impact of such a scenario on the community cannot be overstated,” Maldonado stated in his analysis of the project application. 

In addition to accidents, Lisa Krausz, a co-facilitator of the Stop Grace Coalition and a River Hill resident, shared her concerns about the impact of day-to-day emissions on residents. “W.R. Grace has underreported the real impact on residents' health and well-being from emissions from the project,” Krausz claimed.

Krausz also shared her concerns about the impact that the project could have on the local environment including the Middle Patuxent River. The Stop Grace Coalition explained that the southern portion of the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA) is adjacent to the Grace Campus. Grace has had a history of water contamination, most notably in a Massachusetts town that inspired the 1998 movie “A Civil Action.” 

The Two-Year Long Fight

Grace filed a permit application with the MDE  for its project in August 2023. Grace’s Columbia facility has operated under a Research and Development (R&D) zoning designation since 1959. 

However, many residents of Cedar Creek, including Maldonado, were under the impression that Grace’s facility only served as a corporate office. The Cedar Creek residential development is newer to the area with the final housing units having been sold shortly before Grace applied for its permit, according to Maldonado. 

The Stop Grace Coalition acknowledged that Grace met the legal requirement to inform the surrounding community about its pilot project in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. However, residents felt that the communication was insufficient. 

“The surrounding communities were not adequately notified about this proposed plastic incineration pilot project to be located in and amongst their neighborhoods in the Fall of 2023, nor in the Spring of 2024. The bare legal requirements for public notification appear to be wholly inadequate in the state of Maryland,” the Stop Grace Coalition stated. 

Krausz claimed that, while the period for public comment was extended by the MDE twice, residents in the surrounding communities were largely unaware of the project until August 29, 2024, after the MDE’s public comment period closed.

Since then, the Stop Grace Coalition has used several different avenues to protest the plant’s operation. They created a petition that has garnered over 1370 signatures as of July 1 and attended public hearings, most notably one in February 2025. 

The Stop Grace Coalition supported Howard County Council Member Deb Jung in her efforts to pass a county bill, CB-11, that would have classified projects like Grace’s as manufacturing and prevented them from operating close to residential areas. With a 2-3 vote, the bill failed to pass in March 2025. 

According to Krausz, Cedar Creek community members also filed a zoning complaint with the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ), alleging that Grace’s use of its Howard County facility for the pilot project did not fit within the R&D zoning designation. The complaint was dismissed last year. 

However, on June 30, 2025, after community members appealed the decision, the Howard County Board of Appeals Hearing Examiner, ruled in their favor, describing parts of DPZ’s investigation process as “woefully insufficient.” The pilot plant’s operation on the campus has been temporarily halted until DPZ completes its review. 

“The Hearing Examiner did not rule on the merit of DPZ’s decision, and the ruling doesn’t say the project violates any laws. It simply states that DPZ did not provide a thorough enough explanation of their decision and requires them to further articulate their determination. We respectfully disagree with the Hearing Examiner’s decision and plan to take the matter to the full Board of Appeals,” a Grace spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Sentinel.

As the conflict persists, the Grace employee emphasized Grace’s desire to work with the community. “We understand that it's going to take time and effort to build the trust that we need to have with the community but, we are going to try through effective and consistent communication.”

In a statement on their webpage, the Stop Grace Coalition expressed their commitment to halting the operation of the plant near the residential areas. “We continue to consider ongoing options to halt this proposed plastic incineration pilot project from moving forward.” 

 Courtesy: www.thesentinel.com