Quantum Loophole pauses construction following numerous environmental violations

Sep 29, 2023

Adamstown resident John Gregory discusses a series of signs placed along Tuscarora Creek near his home that warn against coming into contact with the creek's water on Friday afternoon. Tuscarora Creek runs along and through the property being developed by Quantum Loophole.

Quantum Loophole agreed with state officials this week to pause construction of a sewer line and pumping station on its Adamstown campus after racking up numerous environmental violations over the past five months.

The violations range from lapses in the company's permits to the unauthorized discharge of hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater into Tuscarora Creek and its tributaries from Quantum Loophole's property at 5601 Manor Woods Road.

Quantum Loophole plans to build a large campus of data centers there.

An inspection conducted by the Maryland Department of the Environment on May 24 stated that for over a month, between April 21 and May 24, the department estimated that Quantum Loophole discharged 72,000 gallons of water per day into Tuscarora Creek.

The discharge came from a construction process called dewatering, wherein subsurface water and groundwater is removed from a site to allow for drier excavation.

After learning of the extent of the dewatering and discharge, MDE directed Quantum Loophole to cease dewatering. Quantum Loophole went a step further and halted all work on the site, along with the dewatering.

Jay Apperson, an MDE spokesperson, wrote in an email on Friday that the department now has sampling data from Tuscarora Creek and the pumping station excavation site that show fluoride was present, but within drinking water standards at both sites.

Apperson said that surface water samples collected at both sites for other contaminants did not show levels of concern.

However, those samples were collected on-site on May 23 and additional samples from Tuscarora Creek did not occur until May 30, a week after Quantum Loophole ceased dewatering.

Construction equipment is seen from an entrance to the Quantum Loophole campus on Manor Woods Road on Friday.

The department tasked Quantum Loophole with testing the dewatering discharge for fluoride; volatile organic compounds, such as industrial solvents; and metals following the department's May 24 inspection.

Apperson said that samples were collected by an independent contractor and analyzed by a certified laboratory, adding that MDE is considering doing its own testing.

In an emailed statement on Friday, Quantum Loophole acknowledged a failure to use proper channels of communication to keep MDE advised of on-site construction activity.

The company said it is committed to a set of safety, environmental and community standards, and its actions did not meet those standards.

"... [W]e apologize to our community and partners for this oversight," the statement said. "We are laser focused on regaining their trust — upon learning of MDE's concerns, we immediately and voluntarily stopped our work and have since implemented additional layers of diligence, review, and oversight of our activities."

The statement concludes by stating, "Based on the recent analysis of expert data, we believe that the measures will prove to have been taken out of an abundance of caution," and promised cooperation with MDE as the agency reviews data and makes an ultimate judgment.

Last week, under direction from MDE, Quantum Loophole posted signs around the affected waterways near Mountville Road, Doubs Road and Md. 28.

A set of four signs were present along Mountville Road on Friday, where the road goes over Tuscarora Creek.

A sheet of laminated printer paper was bolted atop one sign that states: "Possible Contamination Avoid Water Contact while Signs are Posted," and listed a phone number and the name Scott Noteboom, who is listed as Quantum Loophole's chief technology officer on the company's website.

The language of the signs was recommended by the Frederick County Health Department, according to an MDE inspection report.

Barry Glotfelty, director of environmental health for the county health department, said MDE reached out to his office around the time of the May 24 inspection.

Because potential contaminants in the water had not been determined, Glotfelty said that he recommended the signs’ language "out of an abundance of caution" as MDE takes further measures.

"We’re in dialogue with MDE to determine if there's any health risk that we need to notify residents of, and that's based on evaluations that MDE is conducting," Glotfelty said in an interview on Thursday. "While the investigation is underway, we, out of an abundance of caution, said go ahead and post the signs."

Glotfelty added, "There is not an identifiable health hazard that the department is aware of."

Asked if the signs were a sufficient form of notice for the public, county official Vivian Laxton did not directly respond to that question. She directed concerned residents to MDE's Land Restoration Program or their Water and Science Administration.

In June 2021, Quantum Loophole purchased the land that formerly housed the Alcoa Eastalco Works aluminum smelting facility.

Eastalco operated from 1969 until 2005, was fully demolished in 2017 and left a history of environmental contamination in its wake.

MDE's water testing request to Quantum Loophole targeted some of the same chemicals that in the 1980s and 1990s were reported to have leached from Eastalco waste disposal sites, where spent industrial materials from the aluminum smelting process were once stored.

Between 1983 and 1984, fluoride, cyanide and perchloroethylene — an industrial solvent — were all identified in groundwater at the Eastalco facility.

Additional investigations did not detect those contaminants in the nearest private residential water wells. Alcoa later eliminated contamination sources by disposing of waste at an out-of-state landfill and taking other clean-up measures, according to an MDE site information page.

Two decades later, between 2003 and 2005, more historical waste disposal sites were unearthed in a grassy field near the plant. There, elevated levels of chlorinated carbons and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in the soil.

Alcoa followed up with assessment, remediation, and monitoring of the area. A total of nine waste disposal sites exist on the property and have been capped, according to MDE.

In 2017, MDE prescribed a binding document that requires future owners of the property to adhere to targeted restrictions of land and groundwater use in certain areas.

The document, called an environmental covenant, also mandates that future owners continue to maintain environmental controls placed on the land to mitigate contamination and continuously monitor the site.

Quantum Loophole agreed to the stipulations of the environmental covenant following its purchase of the land in 2021.

Asked if Quantum Loophole is abiding by the environmental covenant, Apperson wrote that an investigation is active and "MDE is focused on ensuring that work at the site is done in accordance with the covenant."

In an email to a county resident, however, an MDE official stated that Quantum Loophole "was not adhering" to the environmental covenant. The resident shared the email with the News-Post, but asked not to be identified.

Asked to comment on the official's statement in the email, Apperson responded to the News-Post, but didn't address that question.

Quantum Loophole plans to build an expansive campus on the property for companies to build data centers there and hook up to Quantum Loophole's amenities, including a fiber optic network and its sewer, water, roads and power infrastructure.

In May, the Frederick County Planning Commission approved the site plan for a 450,000-square-foot data center on Quantum Loophole's campus.

Aligned Data Centers, the Texas-based company developing the data center, is the first applicant to win approval from the county for that campus. More applications for other data centers are expected, according to county officials.

Sections of concrete pipes are seen Friday from an entrance to the Quantum Loophole construction site near Adamstown.

The Texas-based company began construction of a sewer line and pumping station on its campus in January and has received more than 10 violations related to stipulations from its state construction and environmental permits, including the dewatering discharges.

The string of Quantum Loophole's infractions kicked off on Jan. 10, when an MDE inspector from the department's Water and Science Administration found that the company began construction without notifying MDE, as required by a state permit.

The initial inspection report detailed that there were missing permits, which MDE requires that Quantum Loophole have on-site for MDE inspectors to review.

Quantum Loophole went on to repeat that error during four separate site visits in February, April and May. The company also failed to record data following rain events, another MDE requirement.

An April 26 MDE inspection, which was prompted by a citizen complaint of murky discharge downstream of the construction site, detailed multiple construction-related infractions on Quantum Loophole's pumping station excavation site.

According to the report, Quantum Loophole disturbed ground outside of its designated construction site and within a floodplain without authorization.

Erosion of a neighboring stream bank was also observed during that visit, which was attributed to dewatering, and the murky discharge was found in the stream due to blasting activity.

MDE warned Quantum Loophole in the inspection report that if the company's dewatering activities exceeded 10,000 gallons per day, the company may need appropriate permits for doing so.

An inspection on May 8 found additional violations by Quantum Loophole and resulted in a threat of possible penalties or other enforcement actions.

Again, Quantum Loophole was found to have been operating on land in the floodplain and had deficiencies in its super silt fence, which keeps sediment from running off the site.

Tuscarora Creek, shown at bottom right, runs along and through the property currently being developed into a data center campus by Quantum Loophole.

MDE also listed further dewatering issues, such as the discharge of water without a filter bag. The bag was instead placed atop the hose and covered with a straw bale.

There was no visual impact to Tuscarora Creek at the time, but sediment was found in the grass between the creek and filter bag, according to the report.

After repeated warnings and threats of penalties from MDE, the largest violations involving the dewatering discharges into Tuscarora Creek were reported two weeks later, on May 24.

As listed in MDE's site inspection reports, the department has received multiple complaints from nearby residents of murky discharge they’ve noticed in Tuscarora Creek downstream of the Quantum Loophole site.

One such resident, John Gregory, a retired retail worker, has lived on Mountville Road and down the street from Tuscarora Creek for the past 35 years.

Mounds of dirt on Quantum Loophole's property are visible from Gregory's backyard, along with the long yellow arm of a construction excavator.

Gregory contacted MDE in mid-April when he noticed Tuscarora Creek's usual clear flow had become clouded, which he said was atypical outside of a rain event.

Afterwards, he took to documenting the creek on a near-daily basis, snapping photos with his iPhone and often relaying his findings to an MDE official.

"I was disappointed that construction at Quantum Loophole had not been going on that long and here we are, you know, 30 or 45 days into it and the creek is discolored," Gregory said in an interview on Friday.

Gregory said he had more questions than answers when he saw the advisory signs go up, which are only about 400 feet away from his house.

"It's very open ended," Gregory said. "It doesn't tell you what type of contamination, it doesn't tell you when it started, it doesn't tell you when it will end, who's doing the cleanup, etc."

When Gregory learned that Quantum Loophole halted construction, he said he was delighted. He's not anti-growth, he said, but it was pleasant that the constant drum of construction trucks and equipment vanished.

Gregory said that if MDE ultimately finds Quantum Loophole in violation of environmental regulations and subject to penalties, then he hopes the state holds the company accountable and imposes fines.

"If it turns out that it wasn't a big deal, contamination can't be found, then the county and the state need to work together to make certain that the creek remains clean," Gregory said.

Asked if MDE would issue any fines or penalties to Quantum Loophole, and when such enforcement measures would be applicable, MDE's Apperson wrote, "MDE is working through the enforcement process."

The role Frederick County plays in the oversight process, meanwhile, is limited, according to Laxton.

Laxton said the county is aware of both the environmental covenant on the Quantum Loophole property and the unauthorized discharge into Tuscarora Creek, but both fall within the domain of the state of Maryland.

"Frederick County is following this situation closely but the County has no regulatory authority on these matters," Laxton wrote in an email on Friday.

Despite the pause of construction, Gregory nonetheless consistently monitors Tuscarora Creek. But what happens moving forward is up to Quantum Loophole and the state, Gregory said.

He encouraged MDE to use the tools it has available to mandate compliance and a clean environment for him and his wife to live in.

"You have the laws," Gregory said. "Make the laws work."

So that is what the are building out there. I see it from the Marc train window but thought it was a housing development but it just didn't seem big enough.

QLoop rode into town like a unicorn and made everyone believe they were a hip, eco-conscious partner. Buzzer. Their repeated transgressions sound purposeful. They better be held accountable to the max.

Another example where a big corporation has far more ability to outfox the local government than the government has resources to catch up. If nothing else, there should be some provision where the County forbids the contractor from working in the county. Because I doubt QL is really on site so much as hiring shady contractors.

Doesn't seem like much of a good neighbor to me. While the Alcoa site has many permanant issues on it, as per that covenant, I'd be livid if I lived down stream from this - They need to be fined, big time and enter into a consent decree that has serious teeth for enforcement, they clearly aren't operating in good faith.

Man. Sounds like a soupy site 🤷🏻‍♀️

Soup indeed! The cyanide and PCE give it the extra special tang.

Yum!

Quantum Loophole is asking Frederick County for a special exception to drill in floodplain. Their application will be addressed by the Board of Appeals on June 22. Sugarloaf Alliance opposes granting the special exception - this article offers some of the evidence of QL's environmental bad behavior. It's not the whole story. They also have QLoop stop-work violations involving creek and river crossings in Montgomery County. Sugarloaf-Alliance.org will be posting more info shortly.

Where is the full throated outrage from County officials???

We are all (ALL) looking at you CE Fftzwater! What say you?

If the government of Frederick County will not address this travesty then the citizens of Frederick will!

(Better get that overflow room ready for the next few FcPc meetings)

Who did not expect this?

Not the most auspicious start for Quantum Loophole.

Quote:

"Asked if MDE would issue any fines or penalties to Quantum Loophole, and when such enforcement measures would be applicable, MDE's Apperson wrote, "MDE is working through the enforcement process."

Translation: The MDE is going to give Quantum Loophole a stern talking to.

Business and potential tax revenue trumps the environment every time.

Remember, regardless of the number and severity of environmental violations, "Growth is Good."

Yep. And if you’re behind schedule and over budget, take it out of the environment

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