Area B contamination complicates planning for city road project
Mar. 4—Long-standing environmental concerns related to Frederick's Fort Detrick could complicate things for the city as it works to add to its road network as part of the development of its latest comprehensive plan.
The city has long had plans for a network of roads around the city, consisting of Monocacy Boulevard on the southern and eastern edges and Christopher's Crossing on the northern and western sides.
The city's mayor and aldermen discussed the project at a workshop Wednesday as part of a review of the comprehensive plan.
The plans for the segment of Christopher's Crossing have required the city to develop an agreement with Fort Detrick to get a right of way across the fort's Area B, a parcel of land that was used to dispose of chemical, biological and radiological waste from the 1940s through 1970.
The resulting contamination has led to part of the 399-acre area being put on the National Priorities List, a list of sites designed to help the Environmental Protection Agency decide which areas need further investigation.
The route through Area B is the alignment the city is currently looking at and prefers for traffic and other reasons, said Tracy Coleman, the city's deputy director of public works.
But they haven't submitted any designs to Fort Detrick, the EPA or the Maryland Department of the Environment, and they haven't discussed the costs of mitigating the environmental effects of Area B, she said.
The plan offers the most direct route and the most effective option, Mayor Michael O'Connor said. But they don't know whether they'll find something in their planning that makes the most effective option not the best option.
The city is considering widening Kemp Lane as an alternative to extending Christopher's Crossing through the Area B site.
Alderman Kelly Russell said she'd like to see language in the finished comprehensive plan that lets people know the city will consider the risks while it plans the project.
"We're not going to close our eyes and barrel through Area B without looking," she said.
Since the idea of extending a road through the Area B site was first developed around 2009, data from monitoring wells has shown that the contamination is not contained within Fort Detrick's boundaries, according to draft sections of the comprehensive plan prepared by members of the city staff.
O'Connor noted that point during a larger discussion of development in some areas around Fort Detrick.
"I think what we know about what's happening underground is, it's not stationary," he said.
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