Edgewood Area

Two Baltimore-based companies have started work on a $38 million contract to build an advanced chemistry laboratory in Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, said Jeff Hinte, acting director for advanced planning and initiatives of the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. The center has been the focus of research and development involving the chemical warfare agents in the defense against chemical weapons at the proving ground since World War I. Gaudreau Inc., an architectural firm, and Poole & Kent, a mechanical contractor, are to complete construction in two years.

The collective lament regarding the lack of sit-down restaurants expressed recently at a meeting of the Edgewood Community Council is understandable, but not one that can be addressed by the county government - or any other government, for that matter - at least not directly. Art Helton, a former state senator and, more recently, a regular candidate for public office in Harford County, was joined by Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie and Community Council Chairman Jansen Robinson in expressing a desire to see restaurants within easy driving distance of the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground.

In response to continued security concerns after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Aberdeen Proving Ground officials said yesterday the installation plans to build reinforced "igloos" to store 1,815 canisters of mustard agent that are kept in an open yard in the Edgewood area. The igloos, which will cost about $9 million and take eight months to build, will be made of corrugated steel covered with earth, said Maj. William P. Huber, commander of Edgewood Chemical Activity, the proving ground organization responsible for storing the agent.

The Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center hosted the second annual Team Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Showcase Sept. 22 at the Edgewood Area ofAberdeen Proving Ground. Approximately 750 people participated in the first day of the showcase, offering Team CBRNE workforce members and community leaders the occasion to share valuable information with each other about their resources and capabilities. The showcase incorporated a series of poster displays and exhibits focused on expanding the understanding of Team CBRNE's role in providing life-saving solutions to the warfighter.

Chemical work at Edgewood Arsenal of Aberdeen Proving Ground began June 18, 1918. Later referred to as Edgewood Area, the facility was established in November 1917 and construction of the laboratory began in April 1918. It provided chemical production and artillery shell filling facilities to respond to the chemical weapons that were being used in Europe during World War I. The main chemicals produced were phosgene, chloropicrin and mustard. Source: Harford County Directory and GlobalSecurity.

"All these projects mean thousands of jobs are coming to Harford County," said Councilman Dion Guthrie, who represents the Edgewood area. "The base has already gone from one security gate to six." Since the research institute project is not related to BRAC, it does not have to meet that 2011 deadline. "It is not BRAC, but this project is critical to the build-out and transformation at APG," Ruderman said. "We are really changing the landscape."

The Harford County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a jogger found yesterday afternoon in the 300 block of Lord Willoughby Way near Todkill Terrace in the Edgewood area of Harford County. A sheriff's deputy living in the area identified the victim, but his name was not released because the next of kin had not been notified. Lt. Jim Eyler of the sheriff's office said the death "could be medical-related, including a heart attack or stroke." He said there was no indication of criminal activity or an auto accident.

The Greater Edgewood Education Foundation Inc. will hold its second annual student art exhibition and sale from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 12 at Richlin Ballroom in Edgewood. The event will feature student artists from each of the six Edgewood-area schools: Edgewood, Deerfield, Abingdon and William Paca/Old Post Road elementary schools; Edgewood Middle School; and Edgewood High School. Art in a variety of formats, including paint, sketch and sculpture, will be featured. Select items will be available for auction.

Two Baltimore-based companies have started work on a $38 million contract to build an advanced chemistry laboratory in Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, said Jeff Hinte, acting director for advanced planning and initiatives of the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. The center has been the focus of research and development involving the chemical warfare agents in the defense against chemical weapons at the proving ground since World War I. Gaudreau Inc., an architectural firm, and Poole & Kent, a mechanical contractor, are to complete construction in two years.

Rooms in four Edgewood-area schools would be sealed and filtered air pumped in if a chemical emergency occurred at the nearby Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, according to Harford County emergency and school officials.The rooms, designated safe areas that would hold all students, teachers, administrators and other workers, are being outfitted with weather stripping and air filters that would prevent contaminated air from leaking in, according to a county emergency official.Workers were sealing windows and installing weather stripping last week and will continue the work at night after classes begin today in the Harford public schools.

Aberdeen Proving Ground police were alerted to a suspicious person possibly carrying a rifle Wednesday morning, although further investigation revealed the person was not armed and was legitimately working on the federal installation. Two APG employees reported a suspicious person possibly carrying a rifle walking in the post's Edgewood Area at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to a statement from the post public affairs office. APG law enforcement personnel investigated, questioned the person and cleared the environmental contract employee after he was confirmed to be carrying a stick while surveying the area, according to the statement.

Editor: Wanted: Flash Mob! To descend on the Joppatowne High School on Monday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m.! Event: The Joppa/Joppatowne Community Council meeting will host elected officials who will answer questions from you, the citizens of Harford County - the Flash Mob. A lively but orderly discussion will take place in response to two Harford County Department of Planning and Zoning "happenings. " Did we get your attention? As The Aegis article (page A8, Sept. 16) states, the first happening is almost a "done deal.

The Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground is requesting a federal permit for a munitions assessment and processing facility that is expected to handle a number of deadly chemical agents, including Sarin, a nerve agent outlawed by the Geneva Convention that was used in the deadly 1995 terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway system. Andrew Murphy, spokesman for APG's environmental division, said at a public presentation last week that the permit request would just add the facility, known by the acronym MAPS, to a list of several other hazardous-waste processing facilities at the Army installation in Harford County that would be licensed under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency certification.

When it comes to knowing about the kinds of testing that have gone on at Aberdeen Proving Ground over the decades, there are two kinds of people in these parts: those who have heard the stories and those who will. Much of what goes on at APG is highly classified. It is, after all, a proving ground, which means experimental technologies vital to national defense are being tested there. The Aberdeen Area was long associated with tank testing; the Edgewood Area (formerly known as the Edgewood Arsenal)

"All these projects mean thousands of jobs are coming to Harford County," said Councilman Dion Guthrie, who represents the Edgewood area. "The base has already gone from one security gate to six." Since the research institute project is not related to BRAC, it does not have to meet that 2011 deadline. "It is not BRAC, but this project is critical to the build-out and transformation at APG," Ruderman said. "We are really changing the landscape."

A Baltimore developer is going ahead with plans to raze a cluster of dilapidated and long vacant buildings in Edgewood and replace them with nearly 300 new homes. The Shelter Group offered residents a preview of its site plan for the 28-acre Washington Court community that will include 44 single-family homes, 144 townhouses and a 100-unit apartment complex designed for active seniors. The community meeting, which drew about 100 to Edgewood Elementary last week, fulfilled a requirement in the county's lengthy development review process.

You can find her works hanging in the county executive's office, in the gift shop at Ladew Topiary Gardens and in many Harford homes.And if you wandered through the Federal Reserve building in Baltimore, you may have seen her paintings there, too.She is featured in Bendann Art Galleries in Baltimore and Towson and may be seen in Artfully Done on Bel Air's Main Street.The popular watercolor artist is Rita Cooper, a Harford County native, who grew up in the Edgewood area and attended schools there.

EDGEWOOD -- Army plans to decontaminate ground water poisoned by mustard gas agent and other waste from an Aberdeen Proving Ground dump provoked suspicions from Harford County residents last night that the site might never be cleaned up.The Army, with the tentative endorsement of the Environmental Protection Agency, wants to stop further pollution of nearby Watson Creek until technology is developed to safely clean up the Old O-Field in the Edgewood area...

The Greater Edgewood Education Foundation Inc. will hold its second annual student art exhibition and sale from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 12 at Richlin Ballroom in Edgewood. The event will feature student artists from each of the six Edgewood-area schools: Edgewood, Deerfield, Abingdon and William Paca/Old Post Road elementary schools; Edgewood Middle School; and Edgewood High School. Art in a variety of formats, including paint, sketch and sculpture, will be featured. Select items will be available for auction.

Harford County officials announced yesterday that they would beef up patrols in the Edgewood area in response to community outcry over a series of violent crimes, some of them gang-related. Sheriff R. Thomas Golding said at a news conference that he would reassign seven veteran deputies to the agency's southern precinct, which until now has had no more than 10 deputies on duty during peak evening hours. The staffing shift follows weeks of complaints in Edgewood, where the daytime shooting death of a 20-year-old man last month capped a string of shocking incidents.