W.R. Grace Absorbs Record EPA Superfund Fine
Columbia-based W.R. Grace has agreed to pay $250 million, the highest sum in the history of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund program, to reimburse the federal government for the costs of the investigation and cleanup of asbestos contamination in relation to the company’s mining efforts in Libby, Mont.

A human carcinogen, asbestos is a known cause of lung cancer and mesothelioma, a lethal tumor of the chest and abdominal cavities. Exposure to asbestos also can cause asbestosis, which is characterized by scarring of the lung. Grace owned and operated a vermiculite mine and vermiculite processing facilities in and around the small Montana town from 1963 to 1990.

Vermiculite ore that was tainted with asbestos and asbestos-laden vermiculite has been found all over Libby. The asbestos fibers in vermiculite from the area have been identified by the EPA as the cause of hundreds of deaths and thousands more illnesses.

The vermiculite was shipped to more than 200 processing and packaging plants throughout North America, where it was used in the manufacture of lawn and garden products, as well as attic and wall insulation that the government has estimated was used in up to 35 million homes and businesses.

Fort Meade Reiterates Environmental Commitment
The Department of the Army has announced that it remains committed to continuing environmental cleanup work at Fort Meade for the soldiers, family members and civilians who live, work and enjoy recreational opportunities offered by the installation and surrounding area.

To date, more than $83 million has been spent on these efforts and the Army continues to engage federal and state regulators, the community through the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) and other stakeholders on a regular basis.

The Army disagrees with an Environmental Protection Agency decision received Feb. 4, which seeks to compel the Army to comply with a unilateral administrative order issued by the agency Aug. 27, 2007. The Army sought to negotiate alternatives with the agency and is currently seeking review within the federal government in an effort to resolve the disagreement with EPA.

“We believe continuing the cleanup work is the right thing to do and look forward to continuing to work with EPA in a cooperative manner to move ahead on the project work,” said Col. Kenneth McCreedy, installation commander. “The installation is very concerned that the order would seriously delay progress on the cleanup work, especially this year, because of procedural requirements in the order that duplicate work and documentation already completed for the Ft. Meade cleanup.”

Conmed Healthcare Management Acquires EMDC
Hanover-based Conmed Healthcare Management, a full-service provider of correctional facility health care services to county detention centers, has acquired, for cash and stock, nine health care service contracts with six counties in Oregon.

The contracts are currently being serviced by Dr. Robert Tilley, who does business as Emergency Medicine Documentation Consultants (EMDC). Tilley will remain with Conmed as vice president and medical director of the Northwest region. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Tilley’s practice to our organization as we expand our footprint in the Pacific Northwest,” said Conmed President and CEO Richard Turner. “The contracts, which are primarily for physician services, offer significant growth opportunities, since they fit well with Conmed’s geographic expansion strategy and our overall business model.

“We strive to expand our services with our existing accounts and leverage our expertise in providing full on-site staffing, acute care, mental health, pharmacy and out-of-facility health care services, so we are very excited about this opportunity,” said Turner of working with Tilley, who has spent more than a decade working within the correctional facility health care industry.

TCM Voices Support for Tax Repeal Compromise Measure
The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM) has announced its support of legislation that would enact a temporary income tax surcharge as an alternative to the current 6% Computer Services Sales Tax.

The alternative, SB 1004, would open the door for a repeal of the sales tax on computer services by replacing the revenue with a temporary increase in income tax rates for Marylanders who earn $750,000 to $1 million and those earning $1,000,001 or more. In a letter to Gov. Martin O’Malley, TCM endorsed the measure as a reasonable compromise in a difficult budgetary climate.

“TCM’s absolute, top priority is repeal of the sales tax on computer services,” said the letter from TCM CEO Julie Coons. “TCM commends your leadership, as well as leadership in the Senate, most notably Senate President Mike Miller and Senator Rob Garagiola, for proposing to repeal the onerous sales tax on computer services and offering a solution to ensure that Maryland’s budget remains in balance.”

The computer services sales tax has drawn widespread opposition since its enactment during the 2007 Special Legislative Session. TCM recently released a poll showing that an overwhelming majority of Marylanders thought the tax was bad for Maryland businesses. The poll, conducted by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, found majority opposition that cuts across party lines: 54% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans and 62% of Independents.

Constellation Inks Settlement Agreement With FERC Constellation Energy has signed a settlement agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It addresses capacity release violations the company discovered in an internal compliance review at its retail natural gas subsidiary and thereafter voluntarily reported to FERC.

The self-reported violations related primarily to posting and bidding requirements for released natural gas pipeline capacity and the shipper-must-have-title requirement. The company and FERC concluded the noncompliant transactions at the company’s retail natural gas subsidiary stemmed in part from the rapid growth of Constellation’s retail natural gas business through a series of acquisitions from 2002 through 2006.

Constellation said its retail natural gas unit took prompt self-corrective action to terminate or restructure contractual arrangements to ensure compliance with FERC’s capacity release regulations.

In addition, the company implemented several organizational changes, including locating all of the retail natural gas unit’s wholesale natural gas functions at the company’s wholesale natural gas platform in Houston; enhancing natural gas regulatory compliance controls to identify potential violations; and enhancing the legal and compliance functions for its retail gas subsidiary.

Under the FERC settlement agreement related to the self-reported violations, Constellation Energy’s retail natural gas unit will pay a civil penalty of $5 million. Additionally, the retail natural gas unit will pay out, or “disgorge,” approximately $1.9 million in revenue associated with the non-compliant transactions.

O’Malley, UM Scientists Announce New Energy Technology
Gov. Martin O’Malley recently joined a crowd of University of Maryland (UM) scientists and students in College Park to announce the discovery of a bacterium that could lead to the production of 75 billion gallons a year of carbon-neutral ethanol.

The bacterium, called Saccharophagus degradans, creates a mixture of enzymes — through a patent-pending system developed by College of Chemical and Life Sciences Professors Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner — that breaks down almost any source of biomass, or plant life, into sugars, which are then converted into ethanol and other biofuels.

“Marylanders are leading the nation in scientific discovery and technology innovation,” said O’Malley. “We must continue to invest in Marylanders like Steve Hutcheson and in their revolutionary ideas to protect our environment, create jobs and improve lives.”

Zymetis Inc., a tenant in the University’s Mtech incubator program, discovered the bacterium in the Chesapeake Bay. O’Malley presented the company with a $50,000 Department of Business and Economic Development grant.

Altimax Rises at NeoTech Incubator
Altimax Solutions, a technical and management services consulting company, was recently promoted from affiliate to resident status at Howard County’s Center for Business and Technology Development’s NeoTech Incubator.

Altimax, founded in September 2006 by Carline Cazeau, has been a NeoTech Incubator affiliate since it started. The company has four employees who provide on-site technical solutions for its federal and private sector clients. “Altimax Solutions is positioned for growth and becoming an incubator resident gives my company the potential for growth that is necessary for it to succeed,” said Cazeau, president of Altimax.

Enterprise Names Chatman President of ECLF
Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) has appointed Lori Chatman as the new president of the Enterprise Community Loan Fund (ECLF). Chatman joined the Enterprise Community Loan Fund in November 2004 with more than 15 years of progressively responsible experience in the field.

“Ms. Chatman brings a wealth of experience to her new position as president of the Loan Fund,” said Doris Koo, chairman of the board of directors of ECLF and the president and CEO of ECP. “She is a proven leader with vast community development banking expertise. We know that Ms. Chatman will bring her dedication and leadership to help the Loan Fund grow and fulfill its mission.”

Under Armour Announces New Title Sponsorship for Capital Classic
Under Armour and Corrigan Sports Enterprises, of Elkridge, a sports promotion and events marketing company, have announced Under Armour’s title sponsorship for the 35th Annual Capital Classic Game, which takes place Sunday, April 13, at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center.

Since its inception in 1974, the Capital Classic has showcased the nation’s top high school basketball players. Former participants include all-time greats such as Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Dominique Wilkins and today’s superstars like Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. More than 125 Capital Classic participants have gone on to play in the NBA.

Woodside Selects Sourcefire to Increase Network Security and Facilitate Regulatory Compliance
Columbia-based open source facilitator and Snort creator Sourcefire has announced that Woodside, Australia’s largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company, is deploying the Sourcefire 3D System to improve its global network security with increased network visibility and proactive threat protection.

The Sourcefire 3D System provides Woodside with a combination of Network Behavior Analysis (NBA) and leading-edge IPS capabilities that allow the company to safeguard its assets across four continents. Sourcefire real-time visibility enables Woodside to easily identify new systems, vulnerabilities and policy violations throughout its worldwide network without impacting network performance.

NTELOS Implements Ciena’s FlexSelect Architecture to Enhance Service Delivery
Linthicum-based Ciena Corp. has announced that NTELOS Holdings Corp., a Virginia-based integrated telecommunications provider, has selected the CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform family for its access and metro networks. The classic CN 4200 chassis has already been deployed in NTELOS’ network upgrade, with plans to add the CN 4200 MC and CN 4200 RS chassis to support growing customer demand for high-bandwidth, Ethernet-based services such as broadband data, IPTV and evolving on-demand services.

“Recognizing the requirement to get greater bandwidth to the customer’s location to meet demand for new services, NTELOS has committed to a network upgrade strategy to ensure our customers get the wireless and wireline services they want,” said Frank Berry, vice president for engineering and operations at NTELOS.

Columbia’s Produce Galore Closes After 32 Years
Produce Galore, which opened its doors more than three decades ago to serve the then “new town” of Columbia fresh produce and grew to include a delicatessen with gourmet offerings and catering services, has closed its doors on Lynx Lane.

A statement posted on the store’s web site revealed that the move was made due to shifts in the local market: “The current economic conditions are not going to change any time soon. In fact, they are going to get worse before they get better. Consumer buying trends have changed. They don’t include small businesses in neighborhood centers that don’t have anchor stores. It is hard to draw the customers away from the big box stores that have surrounded Columbia.”

Rising Star Finalists Compete for $8,500
The Howard County Arts Council will present the 11th Annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County on Saturday, April 26, at the Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia from 6 to 9 p.m.

The celebration is a multi-faceted signature event, showcasing and promoting the arts and raising funds in support of the arts, artists and arts organizations in Howard County. Ten finalists will compete for cash prizes totaling $8,500 in the 2008 Rising Star Emerging Performing Artist Awards, a highlight of the gala event.

The audience of more than 700 artists, arts patrons, business and political representatives and community members will select three winners to receive awards of $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000. The sponsor for this year’s Rising Star Award competition is The Jeffrey Group at Citi Smith Barney. The emcee for the event will be Dick Story, CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

The 10 finalists performing at the event are Courtney Bell (monologue), Risa Binder (vocal), Colleen Daly (opera), Jorge Espinoza (cello), Alexander Francis (piano), Matt Hemerlein (guitar), Rebecca King (classical ballet), Keesun Kwon (opera), Aimee Velle (modern dance) and Chrissy Wallace (piccolo).

Classifieds 
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Policy Analysis Center Director
Policy Analysis Center Director for new program headquartered in Howard County, MD. Master's degree or better. Experienced in policy analysis and research, legislative process, budget development. High-level position 24 hours per week. Work independently as well as in project management. Excellent communication and presentation skills. Send resume, references, and rates to Anne Towne, Anne.Towne@acshoco.org or fax 410-715-9547.

 

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