Sludge Watch ==> Maryland - controversy over sale of malodorous sludge compost site

[Maureen Reilly]

Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007
Montgomery set to buy sludge site for $10 million
by Janel Davis and Margie Hyslop | Staff Writers

Plans for a sludge composting facility to become a business incubator are 
moving forward now that a $10 million price has been set on the 115-acre 
parcel near Calverton.



The Montgomery and Prince George’s county executives agreed on the price 
last week.
The final decision to sell rests with the six Washington Suburban Sanitary 
Commission commissioners, who are appointed, three each, by the two county 
executives.

Some Prince George’s commissioners have balked at the price, contending that 
Montgomery should pay more.

Sale of the land is on the water and sewer utility board’s agenda today.

Since 2002, Montgomery has been making plans to redevelop the site near the 
county line to support new manufacturing businesses and laboratories since 
2002.

The plan has been delayed as the county has been unable to agree on a price 
with the WSSC, which owns the site.

A WSSC appraisal valued the site at $14 million, but Montgomery County set 
the value at $8.5 million.

‘‘The [WSSC] works best for its customers when the two counties who run the 
agency ... join hands and work together for the common interest,” Montgomery 
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and Prince George’s County Executive Jack 
B. Johnson (D) said in a joint statement.

‘‘The purpose ... is to show that the county executives are unified,” said 
John Erzen, Prince George’s County spokesman.

Montgomery County Council President Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of 
Calverton applauded the agreement that would allow the redevelopment 
project, known in planning documents as the East County Science and 
Technology Center.

‘‘Developing the East County Science and Technology Center at that location 
will bring dynamic new technology companies to the East County and make it a 
magnet for other businesses and residents,” Praisner said in a statement.

The site was closed in 1999 after years of complaints from nearby residents 
and businesses about odors from sludge processing there.

Preliminary plans for the center include 800,000 square feet of laboratory, 
office and manufacturing space designed to meet needs of the biotechnology 
industry, as well as facilities that could support college classes and a 
telecommuter center.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/022107/montnew225337_32326.shtml