Settlement of complaint for air pollution violations includes
$600,000 penalty, requirement for medical waste incineration to cease
BALTIMORE (Oct. 1, 2026) – Incinerator operations at the Curtis Bay Energy facility in South Baltimore will come to an end under a settlement reached between the company and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).
The settlement, described in a consent decree that resolves a complaint for multiple air pollution violations and filed on behalf of the department by the Office of Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, also requires the company to pay a $600,000 civil penalty. This follows years of problems at the facility that include an earlier guilty plea in a criminal case by the previous owner, multiple smoke events and more than $1 million in previous penalties.
“This a major win for a community overburdened by pollution,” said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain. “We won’t accept operations that put public health and safety at risk and leave our most vulnerable communities paying the price.”
Curtis Bay Energy is one of the largest medical waste incinerators in the United States. In 2023, the previous owner pleaded guilty and agreed to pay one of the largest fines in an environmental criminal case in state history. Later that year, MDE entered into a settlement agreement and consent order with the facility. That order resolved various violations by requiring the company to pay a $132,500 penalty and implement operational improvements related to its handling of solid waste.
“For too long, the burning of medical waste has forced Curtis Bay residents to inhale smoke and other emissions,” said Attorney General Brown. “This agreement shuts down the incinerator for good, improving air quality for a community that has carried the weight of industrial pollution for generations.”
In March 2024, MDE filed a complaint against Curtis Bay Energy in Baltimore City Circuit Court, alleging multiple air pollution violations. Inspections, photos and videos from community members and scientists, and emissions records over several months
documented multiple operational deficiencies that led to emissions in excess of permitted standards, visible and unpermitted emissions of air pollution, and, in one case, a fire.
That complaint asked the court to order the facility to make repairs and to impose a financial penalty. MDE alleges operations at the facility have resulted in additional violations since the filing of that complaint.
The consent decree establishes a ramp down period for the facility to transition from incineration of medical waste to a waste transfer station with much lower thresholds for the amount of waste it can accept.
The company is required to cease all incineration operations within 90 days of the issuance of a modified refuse disposal permit.
