Former Appliance Park
East Facility
Columbia, Maryland


The Road to Reuse
~~~
A major portion of the 1,125-
acres former General Electric (GE)
Appliance Park East Facility in
Columbia, Maryland is now being
reuses as a new retail strip mall,
restaurants, residential town homes,
and a corporate office park. From
1972 to 1990, GE manufactured
household appliances, primarily
electric ranges and ovens at the
plant. GE discontinued operations
in 1990 and sold the majority of
the facility to Howard Research and
Development Corporation (HRD)
for redevelopment, retaining
ownership of 21 acres where three
closed landfills are located.
Of the 1,125 acre originally owned
by GE, 440 acre were covered by
a RCRA Corrective Action Permit
issued by die U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in 1991
requiring GE to address any
Approximate total acres
and current use
Approximate Acres in Reuse:
440
Current Use: Shopping center,
office space, hotel.
contamination present at the facility.
GE subsequently conducted several
environmental investigations,
conducted clean-ups in some
areas of die facility, and continues
to work closely with EPA and
the Maryland Department of die
Environment (MDE) to complete
the requirements of the permit.
In August 2008, GE conducted a
Corrective Measures Study (CMS)
to evaluate additional technologies
that may help to address any
remaining contamination. EPA
is currently reviewing die CMS
Report, and continues to review
ongoing remediation activities.
The property is located in a fast-
growing area within commuting
distance from Baltimore, Maryland
and Washington, D.C., making it an
attractive location for development.
One area of the former GE
industrial facility has been
converted to a shopping center,
Snowden Square Shopping Center,
with stores, restaurants and a multi-
screen movie theater. Another
large part of the original 1,125-
acre site has been redeveloped as
the Gateway Commerce Center
(Gateway), where several office
buildings and a hotel are now
located. One of the original GE
manufacturing buildings has been
completely renovated and now
houses office space. Gateway is
now home to the headquarters of
AlliedSignal Technical Services,
Magellan Health Services, BGE
Home Products and Columbia
National, Inc. An estimated 6,000
people work at Gateway.

&J1
www, epa.ptov/repr3wcmd/correctiveaction.htm
For More Information
EPA Region 3 Contact: Barbara Smith,
(215) 814-5786, smidi.barbara@epa.gov

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