FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wicomico Environmental Trust, Friends of the Nanticoke River, and County Residents File Suit Over DAF Storage Tank 

Wicomico County, MD – October 22, 2025 – The Wicomico Environmental Trust (WET), The Friends of the Nanticoke River, and more than two dozen County residents have filed a complaint in Wicomico County Circuit Court seeking relief from the harms and risks caused by the open-top Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) waste storage tank on Porter Mill Road. 

For five long years, neighbors of the huge tank have endured its horrific, pervasive stench depriving them of the use and enjoyment of their properties. Residents have also faced dangerous and disruptive tanker traffic, noise pollution, and other serious impacts, as captured in WET’s award-winning 2021 documentary, Gut Soup. 
Beyond the odor and disruption, the tank poses significant risks to drinking water safety throughout Wicomico County and imperils water quality for the many who depend on nearby surface waters, including the Chesapeake Bay, for livelihood, food, or recreation. 

Environmental risks from the tank have already become a reality. A disastrous spill of DAF waste from the tank has contaminated nearby wetlands, underscoring the danger residents have warned about for years. By then, the Wicomico County Council had already recognized the “adverse effects” of open-top storage of this material and passed bipartisan legislation to prohibit the building of such tanks anywhere in the County. Still, this tank remains in operation. 

“The fact is that the tank should never have been built here. It is a large-scale commercial and industrial waste storage operation that was inaccurately represented as an agricultural operation to obtain zoning and building permits," says Lynette Kenney, spokesperson for the Neighborhood Action Group. 

The Wicomico County Zoning Code clearly prohibits this tank. Plaintiffs have tried time and again—before, during, and since construction, as recently as 3 months ago—to persuade the County Administration to address this situation by revoking the improperly obtained and unauthorized grant of permits for the tank, as required by the Code. 

Today, we say enough. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE WET's website

STATEWIDE UPDATE

CAROLINE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS LOOK AT DAF POLICIES

Will Caroline County join the growing list of jurisdictions to further restrict DAF storage? They just might follow Wicomico County's lead and put restrictions on how this stinky stuff can be better controlled. Like WiCo, citizens united to make their voices heard. This outcry resulted in a moratorium on DAF tanks and now county commissioners are considering more permanent legislation to protect citizens and the environment against this foul sludge.
Seems like residents around such storage facilities are sick and tired of industries plopping down DAF tanks in their backyards. Read WBOC's July 11 piece on what is happening in Caroline County.

A public hearing regarding this topic will be held July 23, 2024 at the Courthouse, 109 Market Street, Room 106, in Denton.

Pending Legislation

BACK TO BUSINESS

LINKWOOD PLANT FINED FOR POLLUTION VIOLATIONS

Darling Ingredients (formally Valley Proteins) has been fined for alleged violations following an inspection of their Linkwood, MD poultry rendering plant. The inspection was a response to a consent degree issued after a 2002 inspection revealed problems at the plant. 
Here is a link to a WBOC story about this fine.

Manhunt Ended on Eastern Shore

The suspect fled over the Bay Bridge and was spotted in Catonsville, MD. Authorities here ended their manhunt. This is the last update I will post.

Here is the WBOC update from May 30.

UPDATE ON MANHUNT

Police are searching for a a 2001, white Ford F150 with tags 5CK9003 with back window stickers for Rockawalkin church, Marine Corps, and AAA.

MANHUNT IN WESTERN WICOMICO COUNTY

Use these links to watch updates about this manhunt.

WBOC

DELMARVA NOW

NAG BLOG WILL TRY TO POST UPDATES AS THIS CONTINUES

IMPORTANT MEETING

WET TO HOST DAF TOWN HALL

March 12, 2024
6:30 PM -8:30 PM
Wor-Wic Community College Auditorium
Or through ZOOM

Go to the Wicomico Environmental Trust webpage "DAF Hall Meeting" to find out more and to register for either in-person attendance or to get the Zoom attendance link. Questions for the live panel can be submitted ahead of time on WET's webpage as well. 

Please share this information with your family and friends. We hope to see you there!

And, if you're new to the Neighborhood Action Group, we invite you to watch WET's video "Gut Soup."

Working QR Code or use the link http://tinyurl.com/DAFTownHall 

 UPDATE FEBRUARY 11, 2024

CLEAR CUT COMPLETE?

As I posted in November, the tank site was undergoing a clear cut. Now it appears to be complete and you can see the results. What once was a thick growth of oaks and pines is now a swampy mess. We hope the final result will be better than it is now.

February 2024

October 2020

GOOD NEWS!

KENNEY RECEIVES ADVOCACY AWARD

Last night Lynette Kenney received the Mike Pretl Award for Environmental Advocacy from the Wicomico Environmental Trust (WET) during its annual dinner, awards, and silent auction banquet. Here is what WET had to say about Mrs. Kenney's contributions.

"Lynette Kenney is a wife, mother, grandmother, and activist. Her life experiences led her to form the Neighborhood Action Group (NAG). In 2019 NAG worked together to try to put a stop to a 3-million-gallon dissolved air flotation (DAF) storage tank that was built less than a quarter mile from her home. Though the group could not stop the tank's construction, they were able to highlight the effects DAF has on fields, local waterways, and the community. Through her efforts, a moratorium was passed to prevent future DAF tank construction in Wicomico County."

In her acceptance speech, Mrs. Kenney told the story of NAG's fight to restrict tank usage which eventually led to responsible regulation on DAF tanks and lagoons in Wicomico County. She ended by acknowledging other NAG members and told the audience that the fight is not over.

Lynette Kenney

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2023

QUIET AND THEN NO QUIET

It's been a somewhat quiet summer with little to post since the ban on most DAF storage was passed by the Wicomico County Council. However, NAG is still vigilant and still unhappy that the tank is near our homes. Soon the winter storage should start and most likely we will see more tank truck traffic and smell the putrid DAF as the tank fills.

The biggest visible change is the clear cutting of the land on which the tank sits. The corner of Porter Mill and Riggin roads is quite bare of trees, the tank is monumentally visible and its lights break the darkness of the night skies. Any filter between the nearby residents and tank-related activities is gone.

The before and after photos show the stark difference.

"Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving
fresh strength to our people." ― Franklin D. Roosevelt