As expected, the Montgomery County Council approved the installation of 120 tons of ground up rubber waste and a football sized sheet of plastic grass for the Wootton High School field.
This time, however, there was one dissenter on the Council. Councilmember Marc Elrich voted against this project. Councilmember Elrich cited concerns about the known zinc run off from artificial turf fields, known PAH levels that vaporize, lack of storm water testing, and the fact that during the storm last year the University of Maryland moved a game from UM artificial turf to the natural grass field at the Soccer Plex.
The Council did not discuss the continuing failure of MCPS to follow Maryland Education Act Procurement law. As usual, MCPS is not putting out an RFP for this project, is not taking competitive bids, and is grossly overpaying for a product. In this case, however, the parties getting hosed are a private club and the Wootton parents as this field is not being paid for out of tax revenues.
Taxpayers will have to pick up the tab for stream clean up and field replacement.
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