Woody Williams is a bit bewildered by the brouhaha his list of 39 known dump, rubble and landfill sites has created.

The list came to the forefront of public debate two weeks ago when Williams, a county Health Department employee, pointed out that a proposed subdivision would be within 300 feet of an illegal dump.

As a result of the ensuing furor, the county Health Department will now review all development concept plans before they are sent to the Department of Planning and Zoning.

The creation of the list, and the revelation of its existence, were accidents.

Williams, a supervising sanitarian with the Health Department, said he began the list a year ago to prepare for a state law designed to protect ground water.

"It wasn't really a matter of not sharing it," said Williams,explaining the investigation of such sites is up to the state Department of the Environment.

The list came to light only because he sat in on a water and sewer planning meeting -- something he doesn't usually do.

"I was just sitting there when they started talking about the Hollywoods subdivision, and a light went on in my head," said Williams.

"I went back to the office and checked. It was right nextto the Lieske dump site."

The proposed subdivision, to be betweenAberdeen and Riverside, would be within 300 feet of an illegal dump site known as the Lieske dump. A spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment confirmed Friday that the site is under investigation.

But the existence of a list of dump sites came as a shock to County Council members. They couldn't understand why the Health Department hadn't shared the information with them, or why the Department of Public Works didn't know the Hollywoods subdivision would be so close to a dump site.

As a result of the list, council members gave the project a low priority in the county's master water and sewer plan.

The project will now be slated for development, and water andsewer service, in six to 10 years, instead of in the next five years.

That's proof that the government bureaucracy, imperfect as it may be, worked to the public's benefit in the case of the Hollywoods subdivision, Williams said.

"It's always been a fragmented system, with everybody doing their own thing," said Williams.

"That's how come subdivisions were being approved on top of landfills. Mistakes are being made."

But he said the controversy "seems exaggerated because we are looking for these things and we are picking them up."

Williams said part of the confusion results because there is no singleagency where the proverbial buck stops when it comes to environmental issues.

The county Health, Planning and Zoning and Public Works departments, and the state Department of the Environment have separate responsibilities when it comes to the environment, Williams said.

William T. Baker Jr., DPW director, agrees.

"I only have authority to deal with public land and public facilities. The key word is public," Baker said.

"Will DPW be the czar for environmental issues?Not unless the charter and code are changed."

William G. Carroll,director of planning and zoning, said county administrators have discussed creating a single department to review all environmental matters.

"But does it help or does it make it more complicated?" asked Carroll, whose department monitors wetlands and enforces tree-reforestation requirements that are part of the county zoning code, among other duties.

"Would we just create another obstacle to the expeditious review of plans? If you pull the environmental piece out, it weakens the ability of the Planning and Zoning Department to maintain a comprehensive balance. The solution isn't crystal clear, but it's definitely an issue."

HARFORD'S DUMP SITES

Here are known sites in Harford County sites where the land has been filled or altered with trash, rubble, organic wastes, industrial wastes or other man-made wastes:

Whiteford Quarry Dump.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Quarry Road & Route136

Madonna Landfill (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Mellow Road

Ashley Dump.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..U.S. 1 atRoute 161

Markline Dump.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Harford Creamery Road

Knopp Dump (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..1430 Chrome Hill Road

Scarboro Landfill*.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Scarboro Road

Miller Dump.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1400 Baldwin Mill Road, Route 165

Rahll Dump***.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2307 Putnam Road

Red Pump Dump (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Red Pump Road

Bel Air Landfill (inactive).. .. .. .. ..NE corner Route 24 & U.S. 1

Long's Septic Service Dump*.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Gravel Hill Road

Gravel Hill Rubblefill.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Gravel Hill Road

MKC Rubblefill (two parcels).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Gravel Hill Road

Havre de Grace Landfill**.. .. .. .. .. .. ..(inactive) Arundel Road

Havre de Grace Plant*.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..200 block Juniata Street

Tollgate Landfill (inactive).. .. .. .Tollgate Road at U.S. 1 Bypass

Mullins Landfill*.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Post Road

Miller Chemical and Fertilizer Corp.*.. .. .. .. .Routes 136 and 165

Lieske Dump* (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Stepney Road at Route 7

Michaelsville Landfill* (USA).. .. .. .. .. ..Michaelsville Road/APG

Phillips AAF Landfill* (USA).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..River Road/APG

Jenkins-Simons Fill**.. .. .. .. .. ..Route 152 at Old Mountain Road

Daneker Sand and Gravel.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Osborn Land

Spencer Rubblefill.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Abingdon Road

Abingdon Landfill*.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Route 7

Braxton Landfill* (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .Bush Road

Moore Dump (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1200 Bush Road

Bush Valley Landfill****.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. (inactive) Bush Road

Johnson Landfill (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3716 Bush Road

Bata Shoe Co.***.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..(lagoon) Riverside Parkway

Bata Shoe Co.*, adjacent to the manufacturing firm.. .. ..Route 40

Perryman Landfill (inactive).. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. Perryman Road

Joppa Sand & Gravel (DNR).. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .Townewood Drive

C.S.P. Assoc. (fill).. .. .. .. .. .. .. 914 Pulaski Highway/U.S. 40

Oak Avenue Rubble fill.. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. ..end of Oak Avenue

Stancill's Rubblefill.. .. .. .. .. .. Mountain and Sugar Hill Roads

Stancill's (Harford Sands) rubble fill.. .. .. .. .. Fort Hoyle Road

Aberdeen dump* (inactive).. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..end of Michaels Lane

Westwood Landfill (USA).. ..Piney Point Road/APG at Edgewood

*Being investigated by Maryland Department of the Environment

**MDE investigation determinedno further action is necessary

***MDE investigation resulted in effective cleanup

****Considered a national Superfund clean-up site

Note: Some dump sites are named for property owners at time of discovery and in no way reflect wrongdoing.

Source: Harford County Health Department, Jan. 29, 1992; includes updates from the Departmentof the Environment