The Middletown Road Dump is a 15-acre privately owned site near Annapolis, Maryland that operated as an unregulated disposal facility for decades. It accepted rubble, construction debris, and municipal and industrial waste without proper permits. A 1981 inspection found roughly 40 crushed and deteriorating drums containing paint sludge and solvents, along with contaminated debris. EPA added the site to its Superfund National Priorities List in 1983.
The main contamination concerns were hazardous drums, paint sludge, solvents, and contaminated soil. These materials threatened groundwater and nearby surface water. EPA and the state completed an emergency cleanup in 1983, removing 68 drums, 70 contaminated tires, 610 tons of contaminated soil, and numerous containers of marine paint. A 1986 Record of Decision confirmed no further construction was needed beyond groundwater monitoring. The cleanup is organized into two operable units: a sitewide removal unit and a second unit where no further action was required.
EPA deleted the site from the National Priorities List in April 1988 after all cleanup objectives were accomplished. A 2012 Five-Year Review found that cleanup actions continue to protect human health and the environment. Contaminant levels now allow unlimited use and unrestricted exposure, so no additional five-year reviews are planned. Human exposure to contamination is under control, and contaminated groundwater migration is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water.
The site is now in productive reuse. A private residence and a firewood supply business operate on the property. The site is also known as the Dale Dickerson Dump. Key documents about the site are available through EPA's Superfund database, and members of the public can review records at the EPA Region 3 office at 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by calling (215) 814-2396 to schedule an appointment.
Community members with questions can contact the Community Involvement Coordinator or Remedial Project Manager assigned to the site.
