Howard County residents keep fighting W.R. Grace’s Columbia plastics recycling plant

Some Howard County residents are fed up waiting to appeal a decision that allows a chemical company to operate a pilot plastics recycling plant adjacent to many of their backyards.

In early September, the county Board of Appeals voted 4-0 to uphold a previous county staff decision that found that W.R. Grace & Co. did not violate zoning rules with its plans to add the recycling plant to its headquarters campus in Columbia.

“There were no violations of the Howard County Zoning Regulations or Subdivision and Land Development Regulations found for this property. Since there are no violations, the case is closed,” according to a September 13, 2025, statement from the Department of Planning and Zoning.

The Board of Appeals’ written decision and order, which is essentially a write-up of the live decision, was expected to be published within 60 days of Sept. 4. As of Friday — 253 days later — the decision still hasn’t been published.

Residents opposed to Grace’s project say they can’t move forward with appealing the Board of Appeals’ decision to the Howard County Circuit Court until the decision and order is released.

Located near the intersection of Cedar Lane and Route 32, Grace’s headquarters abuts residential neighborhoods, including Cedar Creek and Robinson Overlook, a mixed-income housing development, and sits a mile from the Robinson Nature Center, a haven for plants and wildlife native to the Middle Patuxent River.

“Cedar Creek residents cannot appeal it until it’s released. So we’re going to do a little bit of shouting to let out some of our frustration and our anger around this,” said Lisa Krausz, a co-facilitator of the Stop Grace Coalition, at a protest Thursday afternoon down the street from Grace’s headquarters.

Krausz led the group of roughly two dozen county residents, including children, with the chant: “What do you want? A written decision. When do you want it? Now!”

However, according to Board of Appeals Chair Gene Ryan, it is not up to the board to write its decision and order. Rather, the county solicitor, who heads the Office of Law, pens the document.

“I can’t explain why this is happening, and it’s very frustrating to me,” Ryan said in an interview.

However, he added, a final draft decision and order should be before the board soon.

The Office of Law did not respond to a request for comment.

Shamieka Preston, a Cedar Creek resident and candidate for County Council, and council members Deb Jung and Liz Walsh, both of whom are running for county executive, stood with the Cedar Creek neighbors and county residents on Thursday afternoon.

“Their delay allowed for this plant to start polluting our air, our water, our animals and our families,” Preston said. “We are having to beg for them to release the decision they’ve already made.”

Grace has a checkered history with pollution, particularly asbestos, which drove it into bankruptcy. The company became infamous after a Massachusetts water pollution incident, which inspired the 1998 film “A Civil Action.”

Last March, Jung proposed a zoning change aimed at stopping Grace from adding the pilot plastic recycling facility. The bill, which ultimately failed 3-2, would have prohibited research and development using commercial plastic pellets in some zoning districts.

Grace submitted an air permit application for the facility to the Maryland Department of the Environment in September 2023. The department gave Grace the green light last June.

“Initial start up of the plastics processing pilot plant was February 25, 2026,” MDE spokesperson Jay Apperson said in a statement.

Grace officials previously said the company is looking to pioneer efforts to reduce plastic waste by recycling it into “plastic precursors.” The purpose of the small pilot lab is to study and develop a process that reduces air emissions and keeps more plastics out of landfills and oceans, the company has said.