Environmentalists speak in support of Montgomery County bag tax

During a recent clean-up of Rock Creek in Montgomery County, Beth Mullin found a plastic bag from Peoples Drug — a pharmacy chain that hasn't been around since the early 1990s.

"Seventeen years is nothing in the life of a plastic bag," Mullin, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Rock Creek's Environment, told the County Council on Thursday.

She was one of 26 speakers at a public hearing on County Executive Isiah Leggett's proposed nickel-per-bag tax on plastic and paper bags. She and other environmentalists say the tax will help prevent shopping bags from becoming litter in the county's streams and rivers. However, several speakers criticized the fee, saying it was unnecessary and punished residents who already recycle their bags. SOURCE: Gazette