Wicomico Co. Council moves toward banning DAF tanks

WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – Wicomico County Council revisited the issue of permitting dissolved air flotation (DAF) tanks within county lines Tuesday night.

“We had the option of three bills to choose from. One was the ban of the open air DAF tanks. The second bill to be introduced was one where it would limit the DAF tanks to I2 – the industrial zone,” said Council President John Cannon. “The third bill to be introduced would have the DAF tanks relegated to the A1 district with several text amendments to isolate it in different areas of the county.”

Ultimately, the Council voted to move forward with the third legislative option: banning the DAF tanks within County lines.

“The County Attorney recommended to Council that the legislative bill that was most defensible was to have the DAF tanks within the agricultural A1 district with restrictions,” said Cannon. “They were not comfortable with the 100% ban, but they could not say without question that it was not illegal for the Council to ban the DAF tanks as a whole.”

Cannon says Council is now preparing to get public input on the possible ban.

“After having introduced the one bill last night, we have to advertise of course. We will be holding a public hearing at our October 4th meeting,” said Cannon. “At that time, the Council could actually vote on the bill, or we could have an additional work session and just wait until the second meeting in October to vote on the bill.”

If the legislation is ultimately passed, Cannon says the ban would not apply to any existing tanks in Wicomico County. The public hearing will be on October 4th, 2022 at the Wicomico County Government building in Salisbury. It will begin at 6 p.m.