The Baltimore city council announced last week that a final vote will be held on Monday, June 3 to decide whether much of Baltimore's Woodberry Woods will be sold for development. The news came as a surprise to many who expected that no decision would be made until the Environmental Protection Agency concluded its testing of the area this August. Instead, the bill, backed by Mayor O'Malley, could be pushed through without confirmation of the safety of disrupting the former landfill.

The last remaining forest within city limits, this city-owned land is up for sale to Loyola College, who plan to build athletic stadiums to replace older facilities. At a series of city council meetings and committee hearings over the past year, the bill to sell the land has been met with opposition. Community groups representing the neighborhoods surrounding the woods, environmentalists, and others questioned both the need to destroy original growth forest and the dangers of construction in areas where hazardous materials may be buried underground. These activists successfully pushed for the EPA's survey of the area. At a hearing last March, the city's land use committee decided to delay their approval of Loyola's plan until EPA results were in.

Though caught off guard by the timing, supporters of the forest aren't shocked that Monday's vote will take place without the EPA's findings. Jan Danforth, a representative of the Urban Forest Initiative, which formed to protect Woodberry Woods, says that both the city and Loyola could benefit from the early vote. According to Danforth, if Loyola owns the land before testing is complete, they will be eligible for federal funds to clean up any hazards found there. The city doesn't have the same luxury, Danforth says. If while in the city's ownership, "the site is be deemed by the EPA to be unclean and in need of attention, the city is responsible. Period. Even if Baltimore City government sells the land to Loyola afterward, they can never, ever sell off the liability for the landfill, since it was the city that created it." Selling the land before the results come back releases the city of any responsibility they might have had for cleaning up. Meanwhile, Loyola is eager for the site and willing to take this risk, particularly since they might not have to use the college's money for decontamination.

Loyola previously performed its own tests on the land, and stated that they found nothing alarming. However, according to Danforth, they have refused to release the results of their survey until the land purchase is final.

The surprise timing of the final vote leaves the bill's opposition without a crucial two months to further raise awareness of the issues involved. On June 3, ten city council members must either vote "no" on the bill, or abstain from voting, to stop the sale of Woodberry Woods. The Urban Forest Initiative is urging all concerned city residents to call their council members.