About a year ago, with much fanfare, County Executive Ken Ulman announced that the county would be creating a “solar farm” on Worthington Park next to Worthington Elementary School in Ellicott City.Personally, I wasn’t real happy about this program. The site he chose is the best part of my morning running route. It is also happens to be a county park.
It wasn’t always a park. Worthington Park was created on what used to be the county dump before it was moved to Alpha Ridge.
After all the years that this neighborhood bore the indignity of hosting the county’s garbage this plan seems patently unfair. The old dump has since been capped and the land has been turned over to the Department of Recreation and Parks. Now comes news that county is seeking proposals from private energy developers to develop a “solar farm” on the most accessible piece of the park.
This morning, like most mornings, folks like Jenny and her dog Bo were out for a morning stroll around the half mile gravel loop road that rings the top of the former landfill.Don’t get me wrong, I am all for clean solar power. The problem is that the energy generated by a 7 acre solar farm is pretty insignificant. It will basically provide some but certainly not all of the energy needs of Worthington Elementary School. This effort smells more like a public relations stunt than a serious effort towards energy conservation.
I had actually hoped that this project had died a quiet death, a victim to county budget cuts. Unfortunately it lives. The county will soon be issuing a Request for Proposals from private firms to move this forward. If all goes according to plan, the taking of Worthington Park could begin in the next year.
