Prince George’s County

Written By jeanne mccann

The Brandywine community is in the southeast corner of Prince George's County with a population of  6,700 residents, 72 percent of whom are  African-American.  Some residents call it an environmental sacrifice zone for Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region.

  • There are  four power plants within a 13-mile radius of the community.  A 2019 health assessment published by the Prince George’s county health department and the University of Maryland and said residents in southern Prince George’s County were found to suffer from higher rates of respiratory illness, at least partly attributable tothe power plants in the region.

  • The Brandywine landfill is ranked as the seventh most contaminated of 265 sites in the country, according to a 2019 report by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earth Justice.  At the site, ash from three NRG coal plants has contaminated groundwater with unsafe levels of at least eight pollutants, including lithium at more than 200 times above safe levels, and molybdenum (which can damage the kidney and liver) at more than 100 times higher than safe levels. The contaminated groundwater at this site is now feeding into and polluting local streams.

  • In 2022, the American Lung Association published its 20th annual report detailing the particle and ozone pollution in various areas across the nation. The report graded Prince George’s County’s air quality as  “F.” 

Community leaders in Brandywine recently succeeded in preventing the construction of a fifth power plant in the area, and residents are now turning their focus to demanding that county officials change the zoning in the area to ensure that no new power plants can be constructed and that air quality damage is mitigated by a natural green area.

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