Ritchie Park Elem. Odor of fuel in building. Major response. Evacuated. Responders evaluating kids @WUSA9

Ritchie Park Elem. Odor of fuel in building. Major response. Evacuated. Responders evaluating kids @WUSA9 pic.twitter.com/qxqazUGhfB

— Scott Broom (@scottbroom) May 26, 2017

Summit Hall Elementary Getting HAZMAT Cell Tower for Ball Fields #RedZone #HAZMAT #SummitHall #MCPS

Summit Hall ES and fields

Montgomery County Public Schools has stopped putting cell towers on elementary school playgrounds, but the City of Gaithersburg has not.

The City of Gaithersburg will be putting a cell tower on the ball fields next to Summit Hall Elementary School.

As you might be able to guess, Summit Hall Elementary School is a Red Zone school in MCPS.  Red Zone refers to schools with a high poverty rate as measured by the number of students that qualify for free and reduced meals.  

We know that MCPS places cell towers at predominantly high-poverty schools.  Watch the ABC7 report here. 

Summit Hall Elementary School fits the pattern with a Free and Reduced Meals rate of 82%.  82% of the students at Summit Hall Elementary qualify for free or reduced price meals.  So add Summit Hall Elementary School to the list of MCPS schools where children will play next to a HAZMAT cell tower compound.

The high number of children living in poverty in the Summit Hall Elementary neighborhood makes the community a target for a cell tower on the playground.  Below is a picture of what the kids in this neighborhood will get. 

This will be the start of the cell tower base.

Children living in poverty in Montgomery County get HAZMAT facilities on their playgrounds.  

Green zone children? Here's how the Wootton High School community reacted to a cell tower proposal for their field.

Bowers Putting Cell Tower on Another Red Zone School Playground. 80% Free & Reduced Lunch School to Get Cell Tower

Yellow dots show existing cell towers on MCPS playgrounds.

Larry Bowers time as superintendent is almost up, but he still has one more cell tower he wants to put on a Red Zone (low income student population) playground.

The pink arrow in the image at left shows the location of Neelsville Middle School in Germantown.

As reported by ABC7 in 2015:  MCPS places controversial cellular towers at predominantly high-poverty schools, stats show

The agenda item shown below details that MCPS staff have already taken this proposal to the Montgomery County Tower Committee without the approval of the land owner, the Board of Education.  Superintendent Larry Bowers is pushing ahead with this construction project without the approval of the Board of Education.

FARMS = Free and Reduced Meals, an indicator of poverty.

How 'bout some portapotties with those buses?

For those of you who thought that our previous post about the buses that will be parked on the Carver school site was not your concern, think again.

Apparently, while MCPS has to move 400 buses to make way for Bob Youngentrob's housing development on Crabbs Branch Way, you've got to see the plans!  Toilets!  Gas Tanks!  A hazardous waste site - and that's only the plan for 100 of these buses.   Bob doesn't care - his kids went to private schools and should be driving their own cars!

Here is additional information from the neighborhood group:

Worse Than We Knew: Fuel Tanks, Portable Trailers and Bathrooms

For those of you not able to have attended our neighborhood meeting last night, here is a summary.

First, the most troubling news. In response to our requests, MCPS provided the City with a project scope summary. If you’re not upset enough at this, please consider the following: In addition to 100 buses and chain link fencing, they are planning above-ground diesel storage tanks for fueling, three portable trailers and enough standalone portable toilet facilities to accommodate drivers and bus attendants. Construction is slated to begin in September.

Nowhere in any of the previous memoranda and other documentation was there any talk about above-ground fuel tanks and trailers and a row of portable toilets. So if you were not upset enough at the prospect of 100 buses and their noise and fumes parked and then traversing the neighborhood, now it has grown into a fueling station and trailer and toilet facility.

Once there, the buses and tanks will be there for a long time if not permanently. Barbed wire and night lighting can’t be far behind. Please join us in stopping this from going forward. Volunteers are needed to collect signatures, email officials, appear/testify at meetings and conduct research, among other activities. 

To volunteer, contact KJKarton@msn.com.

Proposed Next Community Meeting: Tuesday April 19th at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 100 Welsh Park Drive, Rockville

Why do they need port-a-potties?  Can't the folks at Carver share with their fellow MCPS staffers or are they too high brow to share with bus drivers?

Same for the portable trailers/  Can't MCPS find a a few rooms in Carver for our dedicated bus drivers and attendants?

What about the other 300 buses?  Do the sites for these buses also require portapotties, trailers, and fencing?  Did MCPS share this with the neighbors?

Has anyone contact the hazardous materials folks?  Seems as if we have a violation or two or three.

And finally, where are all those MCCPTA folks supposed to park when they lose their spots?  Not to mention the folks who actually work at Carver?   Judy Docca and Pat O'Neill - you better start training for a really long walk when the bus drivers take over the Carver parking lot.

Another Cell Tower for the Red Zone. Meeting Feb. 11th at 7 PM #parklandmms @ParklandMMSPrin

Base of MCPS cell tower.

The Board of Education wants to put another cell tower at a Red Zone school.

At this school, there is no playground to use because the playground is not owned by the Board of Education.

The Board of Education is going to put this cell tower smack up against the school in the loading dock.  

The Board of Education is holding a parent meeting to discuss this cell tower proposal on Thursday, February 11, 2016, at 7 PM at Parkland Middle School, 4610 West Frankfort Drive, Rockville, MD 20853 

Red lines show proposed cell tower compound.

State Board of Ed to Decide Cell Tower Constroversy

Some Anne Arundel County parents are demanding the state Board of Education order the removal of cellphone towers from school property across the state. Shaped like a tree, the cell tower is designed to fit into the environment, but not everyone in Arnold welcomes its presence on the grounds of Magothy River and Severn River middle schools. At the center of this dispute is a contract the school district signed with Virginia-based Milestone Communications to construct the tower. A citizens' group wants the contract canceled and the tower dismantled.

Watch WBAL's coverage of the Maryland State Board of Education meeting at the link below.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/group-wants-cell-towers-gone/35420012?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=wbaltv11

Today: Support House Bill 727 - Moratorium on Public School Playground Cell Towers

House Bill 727 only puts forward a moratorium on public school playground cell tower construction projects in one county, Anne Arundel, and only for one year.

However, HB 727 sends the message that the issue of commercial companies constructing HAZMAT compounds on public school playgrounds needs to be examined and evaluated before going any further.  

If you believe that Maryland public school playgrounds are for the use, education and enjoyment of public school children, and that the issue of cell towers on playgrounds needs to be studied thoroughly before any more cell towers are built, please send a note of support for House Bill 727 to the list of Maryland House Delegates shown below. 

Ask the following Delegates to please support HB727, Anne Arundel County Board of Education - Wireless Telecommunications Towers - Moratorium and Report

 sheila.hixson@house.state.md.us; frank.turner@house.state.md.us; kathy.afzali@house.state.md.us; Darryl.Barnes@house.state.md.us; Jason.Buckel@house.state.md.us; Eric.Ebersole@house.state.md.us; Diana.Fennell@house.state.md.us; Kevin.Hornberger@house.state.md.us; carolyn.howard@house.state.md.us; anne.kaiser@house.state.md.us; Bob.Long@house.state.md.us; eric.luedtke@house.state.md.us; Ric.Metzgar@house.state.md.us; Edith.Patterson@house.state.md.us; Andrew.Platt@house.state.md.us; Teresa.Reilly@house.state.md.us; Haven.Shoemaker@house.state.md.us; Meagan.Simonaire@house.state.md.us; Jimmy.Tarlau@house.state.md.us; jay.walker@house.state.md.us; mary.washington@house.state.md.us; alonzo.washington@house.state.md.us

  Sheila Hixson  sheila.hixson@house.state.md.us    (Chair)
Frank Turner  frank.turner@house.state.md.us           (Vice Chair)
Kathy Afzli  kathy.afzali@house.state.md.us
Darryl Barnes  Darryl.Barnes@house.state.md.us
Jason Buckel Jason.Buckel@house.state.md.us
Eric Ebersole  Eric.Ebersole@house.state.md.us
Diana Fennell    Diana.Fennell@house.state.md.us
Kevin Hornberger   Kevin.Hornberger@house.state.md.us
Carolyn Howard   carolyn.howard@house.state.md.us
Anne Kaiser  anne.kaiser@house.state.md.us
Robert Long  Bob.Long@house.state.md.us
Eric Luedtke  eric.luedtke@house.state.md.us
Ric Metzgar  Ric.Metzgar@house.state.md.us
Edith Patterson  Edith.Patterson@house.state.md.us
Andrew Platt  Andrew.Platt@house.state.md.us
Teresa Reilly  Teresa.Reilly@house.state.md.us
Haven Shoemaker   Haven.Shoemaker@house.state.md.us
Meagan Simonaire  Meagan.Simonaire@house.state.md.us
Jimmy Tarlau  Jimmy.Tarlau@house.state.md.us
Jay Walker   jay.walker@house.state.md.us
Mary Washington  mary.washington@house.state.md.us
Alonzo Washington  alonzo.washington@house.state.md.us

Please share and post this link on all the websites and Faceboook pages affiliated with opposition to Cell towers on public school property.

Channel 45 news coverage:

PG County Leads the Way in Protecting Public School Land from Commercial Take Overs

Daly Elementary School cell tower

Should your local public school playground be turned over to commercial businesses that have no relationship to the educational purpose of the school?

The Prince George's County Delegation has proposed a bill that seeks to address that issue.

Congratulations to the Prince George's County Delegation for standing up for public school children! Discussing how public school land is used is the first step in protecting public school land from non-educational uses. 

Public school playgrounds have been bought, paid for, and dedicated to the use of public school children. Let's respect our children and keep public school land for the purpose that it was intended.  

  http://www.princegeorgeshousedelegation.com/legislation/bill-history?local=PG%20406-15

   PG 406-15 Prince George's County Delegation by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Cell tower fires on high school sports field #HAZMAT #wheatonhighschool #kennedyhighschool #celltowerfire

Superintendent Joshua Starr wants cell towers on public school playgrounds and fields because why?

Reminder:  Cell Tower compounds are HAZMAT locations and must register with the Montgomery County Fire Department.  

This September 13, 2014, story from Oregon shows a cell tower on fire on a high school sports fields.

If you spot smoke near 62nd & A St., it appears a cell phone tower at Thurston High School caught fire. @KEZI9 pic.twitter.com/GQKidKZwIB
— Jessica Debbas (@JessicaDebbas) September 13, 2014

And here is a story from this summer about a cell tower fire on another high school sports field.

Fire and police crews responded about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 15, to Anderson Field at Bobcat Stadium in Grandview Heights after one of its light poles caught on fire.
The fire began while a crew from Sprint was upgrading a cell tower located on top of the light pole, according to an email blast issued by Superintendent Andy Culp.

County Wants Bigger Cell Tower Next to Nix Elementary School Without Public Hearing

UPDATE: 9/10/2014 The Montgomery County Board of Appeals in an unanimous decision without discussion Granted the petitioner's request for a public hearing on this construction project.  

We will follow up with an announcement of the date and time of the public hearing before the Board of Appeals when that information becomes available. 

Roscoe Nix Elementary School is shown on the right side of this Google Street image. 
All of the parking in this photo belongs to MCPS.
Access to the abandoned pool and cell tower site on the left is through MCPS property only. 

Would you send your child to an elementary school next to a commercial HAZMAT site located on an abandoned pool property?

Gazette March 26, 2014 article and photo

Check out what the property on the left of this above image looks like up close.  The Gazette photo on the left shows you what the area to the left of the red circle above looks like.

The swimming pools have been abandoned and are now filled with brown/green water and who knows what else. The property is in extreme disrepair and the barbed wire fencing to keep kids out is no longer in place. Any child from the elementary school across the parking lot could easily climb into this abandoned swimming pool property and explore the open waters.

Right now, Montgomery County wants to allow the cell tower on the pool property to grow.  They want to permit a larger cell tower compound and higher cell tower without addressing the condition of the underlying property! The Board of Appeals has granted the request to enlarge the cell tower compound without hearing from the public.

Montgomery County and MCPS are totally ignoring the incredibly dangerous situation that has been created by the abandonment of this property right across the parking lot from Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring.

Here's the question: Should a property owner be allowed to expand a commercial use of a property while allowing the property to decay to the point of becoming a hazard to neighborhood children who might decide to explore these abandoned pools?

Would Board members Patricia O'Neill and Shirley Brandman  permit this dangerous condition to exist on the parking lot of any Bethesda elementary school?  
Would they sit by and watch as the commercial HAZMAT use of abandoned property was increased next to a Bethesda elementary school?  

We know the answer to the above questions is NO!

But, Silver Spring? This is where you can send your kids to school. 

This matter is before the Montgomery County Board of Appeals on September 10th. See Agenda Item #15 below.  The issue is that there has been NO public hearing on the request to expand the cell tower on the abandoned pool property.   

A request has been made to the Board of Appeals for a public hearing to permit the public to discuss the request to build on this property.   

Will the Montgomery County Board of Appeals permit the public to be heard?   

Will anyone from the Board of Education speak up on behalf of this elementary school community and advocate for this property to be made safe before any further construction or expansion is allowed? 

  2014 Sept 10 BOA Agenda by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Breaking News: Another cell tower for a public school playground! #milestone #votedougduncan #celltower #HAZMAT

Daly Elementary School playground
Germantown, MD

Another cell tower is coming to a Prince George's public school playground. 

Do parents or neighbors at this school even know about this proposal yet? Bet they don't. 

We just found this public notice buried in the notices in the Prince George's County Sentinel. 

How often do you read the public notices? If you live near a public school in Maryland you should be reading them every week because this is how you get public notice of a cell tower going up at your neighborhood public school playground. 

Remember the Prince George's BOE spent a total of 40 seconds in 2010 putting through cell towers for 73 public school sites in the county.  This public notice is for James Madison Middle School in Upper Marlboro, MD, but the notice doesn't tell you that.

This is the super cool deal that Montgomery County's own Doug Duncan pushed on Boards of Education all over the state.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: Do not look for these notices online.  The full Prince George’s County legal notice section is available only in the subscriber edition of the Sentinel, which is available for sale at selected locations throughout Prince George’s County.

------------------------------------------------------

PUBLIC NOTICE:

Network Building + Consulting on behalf of Milestone Communications propose to build 132-foot Monopole Communications Tower.  If the tower requires lighting,anticipated lighting application is mediumi ntensity dual red/white strobes.

The Site location is 300 Woodyard Road,Upper Marlboro, Prince George County,MD 20772,

Lat:38-47-19.52,Long:76-50-19.84.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Antennae Structure Registration (ASR,Form 854) filing numbe ris A0909292.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS-Interested persons may review the application

(www.fcc.gov/asr/applications)

by entering the filing number.

Environmental concerns may be raised by filing a Request for Environmental Review

( www.fcc.gov/asr/environmentalrequest ) and online

fillings are strongly encouraged.

The mailing address to file paper copy is: FCC Requests for Environmental Review Attn: Ramon Williams,445 12th Street SW, Washington DC 20554.

HISTORIC PROPERTIES EFFECTS - Public comments regarding potential effects on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to:

Trileaf Corp 

Natalie.kleikamp@... 10845 Olive Blvd Suite 260 St Louis MO 63141 314-997-6111.

0003996

1t

07I17/14

  Middel School Cell Tower Notice Surprise by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

If we told you once, we told you twice . . .

the Wootton Community does not want a cell tower.

This is the second time the Wootton community has told Dr. Doran that cell phone towers, cell phone compound, generators, and other accessories are not welcome.

Really, honestly, truly Dr. Doran, we don't want it.  How many times do we have to tell you?  We told you in 2004, and we are telling you again - NO.

Many of the parents in the audience tonight (remember, it was a COMMUNITY meeting) have young kids - in elementary and middle school, even preschool.  Some community members don't currently have ANY kids in Montgomery County Public Schools.  This was your chance to meet them, and you blew it.

You said this was an opportunity - what type of opportunity?  What is the community benefit?  Our cell service is fine.  Kids can't use cell phones in schools anyway - are we missing something?

For some reason, you mentioned the artificial turf field - that one you said you advocated for.  Great, another long term chemical hazard.  So - to a new parent or community member, your big accomplishments are that you advocate for an artificial turf field and see an opportunity in a cell tower?

Your job is education - not fundraising or making the cell phone companies richer.  The County Council just fully funded the MCPS budget - and you need more money to do what?

If you want to be a business person, go ahead.  But Wootton HS and its cluster schools need a principal who is an educational leader, not someone who looks for placing yet another chemical hazard in our neighborhood.

Here are some pictures from tonight's meeting.

Home or Away? Help Dr. Doran solve his cell phone tower dilemma!

Wootton HS will be getting a cell phone tower shortly - thanks to Dr. Doran the principal for his creative fundraising.

But - where will he place that tower?  According to our sources, the tower will be added to one of the existing lights in Wootton's football stadium.

The question is - will the lights be on the visitors or home bleachers?

Remember, the cell phone tower comes with approximately 100 square feet of equipment/hazmat accessories, including a generator, and the generator needs to have diesel fuel deliveries.  And noise.

From the pictures, the visitors side doesn't seem to have a lot of space for the equipment - keep in mind that Watts Branch runs right behind the stadium, with a fairly steep slope.

SO - which pole will Dr. Doran select?  Help him decide - and then let the school know your choice!

Home bleechers - light #1 at rear entrance of stadium, light #2 in front of the stands.

Visitor bleachers - light #3 on rear end of bleachers, light #4 closest to Wootton Parkway.

Is the money really worthwhile?  Does Dr. Doran want his staff to be responsible for monitoring the presence of the contractors and those who will maintain the hazmat/cell phone tower?  The generators and battery backup?  Or will that pesky tower just tap into the electricity for Wootton High school - after all, cell towers need

Of course, you can always let Dr. Doran know that hazmat facilities, with or without cell phone towers, have no place on public school property.

Weast puts HAZMAT on playgrounds

Cell phone tower compound at Daly Elementary School

Carrier T-Mobile has applied for Cell Phone Tower placements at 14 MCPS school sites, including Daly Elementary School and Whitman High School.

Yet, a 2008 Board of Appeals decision states that T-Mobile had "adopted a corporate policy of not complying with Montgomery County's registration requirements for businesses that store hazardous materials, arguing that they should be considered exempt." (Page 61 of Opinion S-2709 shown below)

Cell phone tower carriers are required to obtain a Hazardous Materials Use Permit (See Montgomery County Fire Safety Code Reg. 22.00.01)

Here is what the 2008 Opinion stated on Page 61:

...T-Mobiles counsel, Mr. Hughes, asserted that the housing and use of the back-up batteries are very safe and in full compliance with all applicable laws.See
Ex. 107. The latter point turned out to be debatable. Ms. Present brought out that T-Mobile has adopted a corporate policy of not complying with Montgomery Countys registration requirements for businesses that store hazardous materials, arguing that they should be considered exempt. Barbara Moore, Permit
Coordinator in the County's Office of Emergency Management, Hazardous Materials Use Permits (part of the County's Homeland Security Department) testified that that the County's Hazardous Materials Use Permit Regulation, Executive Regulation 17-03, first issued in 1991, imposes a reporting requirement on any commercial business that stores a total of five gallons or more of hazardous materials. Ms. Moore explained that a hazardous material is anything that is harmful to humans, plants, animals or aquatic life. The registration requires disclosure of the quantity of a
material stored at a site so that in the event of an emergency, first responders can assess the level of risk and determine how much equipment they need to wear and bring.

Ms. Moore explained that about 97 percent of the County's telecommunications facilities are in the high use category because they store batteries that contain sulfuric acid, which is considered an extremely hazardous substance under federal law. Montgomery County considers any business that stores ten pounds or more of a hazardous substance to be in the high use category.
Ms. Moore noted that a few telecommunications sites are SARA facilities under the federal Superfund Amendment and Reorganization At of 1986, which requires reporting at which requires reporting at the state level as well as to the County. Those facilities have 10,000 pounds or more of a hazardous substance, or 220 gallons or more of an extremely hazardous substance. The few SARA sites are located on buildings that are used for another purpose that involves hazardous materials, so that pushes the site into the higher category. Ms. Moore also noted that any business that may bring an emergency generator to its site for even one day is supposed to include the hazardous materials associated with that generator, such as fuel, on its hazardous materials inventory.

Ms. Moore testified that all of the cell phone carriers operating in Montgomery County have reported their hazardous materials storage and filed the required emergency plans, with the exception of T-Mobile. The emergency plan for a typical unmanned site is just to call 911, but the hazardous materials registration means that the County's HAZMAT team goes out and they know what's stored there. See Tr. Feb. 1 at 93. T-Mobile has approximately 155 cell phone sites in Montgomery County but has refused to register them as hazardous materials storage sites...

Cell tower appeal

Pictures show the base of the Daly Elementary School cell phone tower. The red arrow in the top picture points to the glowing numbers on the base unit. The Daly Elementary School monopole is located on the Daly ES playground.