County Council President Phil Andrews delivered this proclamation at Friday night's Montgomery County Civic Federation Awards Dinner.
WHEREAS, it takes a special person to dedicate much of their life to making sure government works the way the general public expects and to have vision when it comes toward actions that are based on what is best for the long-term future rather what seems convenient for the immediate moment; and
WHEREAS, for many years throughout Montgomery County, officials of all kinds—elected and otherwise—knew they were in for quite a day when they saw the man with a pony tail tucked under the quite evident hat approaching or read the name ‘Wayne Goldstein’ on the speaker’s list for an impending public hearing; and
WHEREAS, Wayne Goldstein unleashed his quiet fury from many positions, whether it was with Kensington Heights Citizens Association, Montgomery Preservation Inc., representing the Montgomery County Civic Federation, in his weekly newspaper columns or just in any random conversation where he could zing a point with the combined sharpness of an arrow and the soft touch of a feather pillow; and
WHEREAS, adjectives often can characterize a person, and the words that friends, admirers and even occasional philosophical opponents have used to describe Wayne Goldstein over the past few weeks include ‘tirelessly selfless community advocate,’ ‘pillar of the civic community,’ ‘fierce defender of the environment and historic preservation,’ ‘researcher beyond compare,’ tenacious and passionate,’ and ‘fearless,’; and
WHEREAS, since few were better with words than Wayne himself, it is likely best to allow Wayne to best sum up his life’s public work, as he once did in talking to The Washington Post about attempts to preserve a historic building, saying: "There's a tremendous amount of principle involved here. We're doing this to say, 'This was an important, historic building and this still is an important site, and we had a right to be heard and not be pushed aside.' ";
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the County Council of Montgomery County, Maryland, hereby salutes the work, dedication and passion for life of
WAYNE GOLDSTEIN
and wants all to know that few individuals will have a left a mark on this County as he did, and most importantly, we all know that the real beneficiaries of Wayne’s life will be those who get to experience and enjoy many of the things Wayne fought to preserve for our later generations.
Presented on this 15th day of May in the year 2009.
Phil Andrews
Council President
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
County Proclamation for Wayne Goldstein
Thursday, April 30, 2009
On the Death of a Friend
By Jim Humphrey, Chair, Montgomery County Civic Federation Planning and Land Use Committee. Reprinted from the Montgomery Sentinel.
I was shocked and saddened this past Monday to learn that Wayne Goldstein, my friend and fellow civic activist, had died suddenly that morning. He had suffered a heart attack while walking in to the County Council Building in Rockville to participate in a hearing on expansion plans for Suburban Hospital. It is always a shock when someone so vibrant and lively is taken so suddenly. But how appropriate, I thought, that he had left us while engaged in the activity that he enjoyed so much and did so well--advocating, as an unpaid volunteer, on behalf of the residents of Montgomery County.
Marc Elrich and Wayne Goldstein.
After saying a silent prayer for his family and loved ones, my thoughts turned to the magnitude of the loss. Since the mid-1990s, Wayne had been a fixture in the civic community. The depth of his knowledge on issues ranging from land use and education, to the environment and historic preservation, and his experience in navigating the processes of local government were legendary.
Wayne would often call late in the evening to discuss some development project or zoning issue confronting one of the county's communities, usually after attending one or more public meetings earlier that evening. Who would I have those talks with now? If I was stumped as to what aspects of an issue should be focused on when drafting MCCF testimony for a hearing before the County Council or Planning Board, he always provided wise counsel, invariably suggesting an approach I had not considered. Who will provide that counsel now? And in those rare times of frustration, when the likelihood of a positive outcome on an issue made my involvement seem nearly pointless to me, Wayne was the person who had lifted my spirits and urged me to get back in the game. Who, I thought, will be my cheerleader now?
Over the past few days my phone line has been kept busy by community leaders from all over the county, calling to relate their shock and grief over the death of our friend and colleague. And in the sharing of stories with these callers, I came to realize that one of Wayne's most remarkable attributes was that each person I spoke with felt they had had a special relationship with Wayne...that their issues of importance had received particular attention from Wayne...that he had boosted their spirits at critical times by focusing solely on them. This quality was the more remarkable because he stayed so busy. As I would jokingly say to him, "wherever two or three county residents are gathered together to confront an issue that could negatively impact the quality of life in their neighborhood, you're there too--organizing, educating, and supporting their efforts."
And when Wayne was done for the day (attending all of the meetings or hearings he could cram into his schedule), and perhaps spent precious personal time visiting his mom or girlfriend, like many other civic activists I've known he would often stay up late into the night writing, researching, and responding to emails. I would sit amazed when receiving one of his research emails containing a list stretching yards in length of links to internet articles he'd found on a particular topic, with his personal notes tacked on each entry. A small example of the depth of his research was the 3-article series Wayne wrote as a Federation Corner columnist in January of this year on the problem of breaks in the pre-cast concrete water and sewer pipes used by WSSC. The knowledge he acquired helped educate both citizens and elected and appointed officials alike on a whole host of problems and their possible solutions.
For all his hard work and dedication, however, Mr. Goldstein was not a man without humor. He always wore a hat, indoors or out, and often one themed to the event which he was attending. I remember well one Planning Board session where Wayne strode into the hearing room wearing boots and a white cowboy hat and announced in his testimony that he'd heard a new sheriff was needed in town to clean up the particular mess the Board was confronting that day. The twinkle in his eye and his customary Cheshire cat grin always gave one the impression that he knew some juicy bit of news he couldn't wait to share with you, or that he suspected you knew something which he couldn't wait to hear.
Another remarkable aspect to Wayne was that his ego was never at issue. He volunteered his time and abilities on behalf of the residents of the county without a care for personal gain. But, thankfully, his efforts did receive richly deserved recognition.
Wayne was awarded the 2008 Educational Excellence Award from the Maryland Historical Trust Board of Trustees, for planning the COMSAT charrette as a means of showing the developer/owner that it was possible to profitably redevelop the site while retaining and reusing the historic building on the property, which was designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli. (And, when Wayne felt the success of the effort might be enhanced by Mr. Pelli's attendance, he simply contacted the architect who willingly agreed to travel to the county and participate.) Wayne served as MCCF Vice President from 2004 to 2006 and President from 2006 to 2008, and was awarded the Star Cup last May in recognition of his outstanding service to the Federation and the people of the county. And in a survey conducted by a local political blogger in the fall of last year, respondents voted Wayne one of the "most influential non-elected people in Montgomery County."
Wayne Goldstein was a one-of-a-kind personality and a truly gentle man. And he will be sorely missed.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
A Letter to Wayne Goldstein
From Byron Bloch, former Chair, Montgomery County Civic Federation Transportation Committee.
Dear Wayne,
Please tell me, tell us all, that you are still with us. You are still fighting the battles for a better community. You are still railing against injustices in our communities. You are still advocating for historical preservation. You are still telling your funny anecdotal stories, each with a good moral lesson embedded within. You are figuring out which hat to wear for tomorrow's hearing, and polishing your notes about the key facts and the points you need to make. You are looking over the agenda for the forthcoming Civic Fed meeting, and deciding which actions to support.... and why it makes sense. Please, Wayne, we know you're up to something so very clever.... and we know we'll see you at the next civic event. We were so proud of you for being named a recipient of the 2008 Educational Excellence Award from the Maryland Historical Trust Board of Trustees.
And we all vividly remember and applauded you being honored with The Star Cup trophy award for outstanding public service to Montgomery County, presented at the 2008 Montgomery County Civic Federation's Annual Awards Banquet. Damn, you've done so much for all the rest of us. So, you know what, let's get together next week and rant about the many issues yet to be resolved. And, dear friend, please guide us through the maze... as you've always, always done with your hard work and brilliant insights. We love you, Wayne, with that friendly twinkle in your eye, that broad smile, compassion in your voice, and a dashing rake to your cap. Here's to you, Wayne Goldstein !
From Byron and Naomi Bloch, just two of your countless friends.
Funeral Arrangements for Wayne Goldstein
Following is information on events for Thursday and Friday.
Arrangements by:
Danzansky-Goldberg Memorial Chapel
(301) 340-1400
Gathering with family (visitation):
at Danzansky-Goldberg Chapel
1170 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
Thursday, April 30
7 pm - 9 pm
Service:
Friday, May 1
1 pm
at Danzansky-Goldberg Chapel
1170 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
Thursday, April 30
and moves to
Garden of Remembrance Memorial Park
14321 Comus Road, Clarksburg, MD 20871
(301) 428-3000
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
MCAD Activists Praise Wayne Goldstein
From Chris Ollo:
Wayne approached us and offered his insights and help in our efforts to make MCAD a park (at the County Council, where else!). He was a fund of knowledge and support, knew everyone, and had lots of advice. Beverly Sobel and I received a MCCF award just last month with him. He motivated us and made us activists, to not be shy about contacting our representatives and speaking at the County Council about our concerns. He did too, on our behalf. They knew him well, addressed him by name, and respected him. Yes, his legacy will last in all of us. He will be missed. Very sad.
Beverly Sobel, Wayne Goldstein and Chris Ollo.
Editor's Note: Chris Ollo is one of the McKenney Hills/Carroll Knolls/Plyers Mill neighbors who are fighting for a park at the Maryland College of Art and Design site on Georgia Avenue in Wheaton.
A Tribute to Wayne Goldstein
By Cary Lamari.
When I turned on my computer yesterday I was in shock. Wayne Goldstein, my dear friend and colleague, had passed away, suddenly and with no warning. He died en route to another round of testimony before the County’s Hearing Examiner. He was going to battle for the Huntington Terrace community, backing them in their fight to keep an important local road open to the public rather than allowing Suburban Hospital to have its way and swallow up both the road and more homes in an expansion move.
Jim Humphrey, Marc Elrich and Wayne Goldstein.
I first came to know Wayne during my time on the Mid-County Citizens Advisory Board. We remember him for his production during the 1990’s of an acerbic, superbly crafted, Michael Moore-ish video challenging the necessity of building the new jail in Clarksburg. Historic preservation became his passion and he fought against the potential loss of mature trees and open space adjacent to Montgomery College and the break up of the historic Falkland Apartments, both in Silver Spring. He proactively organized a charette to try to devise the best possible reuse of the Comsat Building designed by the famed architect, Cesar Pelli in the I-270 corridor.
Wayne recognized early on that County residents are almost always at a disadvantage when challenging well-financed development interests and their law firms in rezoning, special exception and land use cases. Years ago, he developed his own expertise at researching land use issues. His testimony in support of local communities was invariably complete, detailed, articulate and compelling. Last year there was a site plan being considered for the redevelopment of Bethesda Metro Center. The land use attorneys representing several different business interests spent some time squabbling and shouting at the Planning Board and behaving childishly. Wayne, in his own inimitable style, testified quietly giving the perspective of the Civic Federation’s Land Use Committee. The Planning Board paid him their highest tribute saying that at least Wayne and the Civic Federation always presented their testimony with dignity unlike the lawyers who had been embarrassing themselves and the legal profession all day. I spoke to Wayne later that day, and he had that wonderful, silly smile he always wore when recounting his experiences. Wayne was always good for a smile.
Wayne and I worked together on many initiatives including “Pay and Go” and the Montgomery County Civic Federation’s petition drive to put Question C on the ballot for which Wayne gathered thousands of signatures, always with a smile and a willingness to talk to people about the nature of the problem and the need for a solution.
Many might not appreciate this fact, but people like Wayne actually provided a sorely needed balance to County Government. During my time as President of the Montgomery County Civic Federation, Wayne asked me to host a forum on “Citi-stat”, the program developed and used by then-Mayor O’Malley to streamline the city government of Baltimore. The Civic Federation held the forum, and O’Malley made his presentation. We were sufficiently impressed that we pressed Ike Leggett to consider using the same approach to improve the County’s government if elected to serve as County Executive. Now that Ike Leggett is in charge, “County-stat” has been initiated and is said to have saved approximately 5 million dollars just in the last year. I hope Ike implements the remaining components of County-stat as a tribute to Wayne Goldstein.
One thing Wayne could not tolerate – hypocrisy. And he was good at uncovering hypocrisy! He proved over and over again that there is significant room for improvement in our County government. Wayne never sought election to public office, and most residents are probably unaware of how much he contributed to their quality of life. I will personally miss my friend Wayne, his infectious smile and quiet dignity, and his relentless quest for better government. Montgomery County has lost yet another major champion of the people when they lost Wayne Goldstein.
Thank You,
Cary Lamari
Ike Leggett on Wayne Goldstein
Following is the statement from the County Executive.
Statement by County Executive Isiah Leggett on the Passing of Wayne Goldstein
April 28, 2009
“I am deeply saddened by the untimely passing of Montgomery County civic activist Wayne Goldstein. Wayne was an earnest and perceptive watchdog on County government and County politics but he never let that earnestness get in the way of a delightful sense of humor and love of life. Wayne could disagree without being disagreeable. I will remember the ever-present fedora, the satiric testimony before County Council hearings, and the bundle of energy and idealism that was Wayne.
“Wayne was a strong and effective advocate on historic preservation, land use, and the environment, as well as an avid proponent of our CountyStat program to measure results and performance in County government.
“I have lost a friend. Montgomery County has lost an institution.”
The Great Civic Grand-daddy
Yesterday, Montgomery County lost a great champion of the little guy: former Civic Federation President Wayne Goldstein. Today, I pay homage to one of my heroes.
The first time I met Wayne, he was running one of his Monday night Civic Federation meetings. There he was, wearing his trademark flat cap, a pony-tail running down his back and his amused, vaguely conspiratorial voice coming out of that super-sly smile. “What a weird guy,” I thought. But Wayne wasn’t weird. He was simply a man who derived immense joy from what he did.
And what Wayne did was cause trouble – endless trouble. Wayne was the best researcher in Montgomery County. There was nothing he couldn’t figure out. There was no information, no matter how ancient or obscure, that could elude him. If you don’t believe me, just check out the small sample of his work featured here on this blog. Wayne loved facts – especially embarrassing facts. He would use them to torment the powerful, whether in private industry or in government, and pressure them to come around to the interests of the county’s residents. He was a resource for all of us. If you couldn’t figure something out, you just called Wayne. He either knew what you needed to know or he knew someone who did. Hundreds – maybe thousands – of civic activists originally met through Wayne.
Wayne loved historic preservation. He lived for battles like Falkland Chase and Mike Knapp’s historic preservation law. He loved tutoring young activists. For a rookie like me, Wayne’s sly smile always said one of two things: “I know something juicy!” or “You look like you know something juicy, so tell me!” And Wayne really loved to hate MCPS Superintendent Jerry Weast. He wrote hundreds of Civic Federation columns devoted to exposing Weast’s “ongoing subterfuge” of test data, his charging curricular fees to parents, his hiring of ethics-challenged subordinates like John Q. Porter and much, much more. Wayne had a strange symbiotic relationship with Weast. Weast’s misbehavior fed Wayne’s twin passions of research and taking down the big guys. And Wayne’s constant Machiavellian depictions of Weast fueled Weast’s image as an omnipotent overlord, something that is craved by every emperor.
The tribute to Wayne Goldstein does not end today. It goes on every time a neighborhood mobilizes against a proposed rezoning. It goes on every time an amateur historian opposes a building tear-down. It goes on every time a parent questions the school system. It goes on every time a citizen challenges bureaucracy in our eternal quest for a voice in government. Whether they know it or not, they are all Wayne’s kids.
And wherever Wayne is, he’ll be watching us and rooting for us with that super-sly smile.
Friday, January 30, 2009
WSSC Put To Shame By Others In Response To PCCP Crisis
By Wayne Goldstein.
Based on studies, news accounts, and water utility web sites, I have learned that two water utilities stand out in their response to the Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipes (PCCP) crisis - the Howard County Bureau of Utilities and the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) - as compared to WSSC. Howard County and WSSC simultaneously experienced PCCP breaks in the '80s and '90s, and even sued the same pipe manufacturer. But the similarity ends there. One of WSSC contractor Pure Technologies research papers, "Acoustic Monitoring of Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe - A Case History" tells what happened:
"In 1995, Howard County’s Bureau of Engineering and Utilities developed a plan for inspection of its water mains constructed of PCCP… Beginning in April 2000, an acoustic monitoring program was implemented on approximately 6000’ feet of this pipeline… Howard County’s Long-Term Plan is to acoustically monitor all the PCCP water mains within the water distribution system. This will provide information regarding the overall condition of the pipes and enable Howard County to determine areas that should be externally inspected or replaced. Acoustic monitoring has allowed pipe evaluation without taking the pipeline out of service and provided data over an extended period of time. Acoustic monitoring has been proven successful in locating failures and Howard County will continue with this program. Acoustic monitoring of 5000 feet of 30-inch PCCP water main in US Route 40 from St. Johns Lane to Dogwood Drive is presently being conducted."
In its 1999 Annual Report, SDCWA stated: "In the early '80s, the Water Authority began experiencing failures in portions of its older, prestressed concrete pipeline. These pipes were constructed as far back as the late 1950s. How the Water Authority responded to these failures represented a significant change in the way the Water Authority inspects and maintains its aqueduct system. In January 1992, the board approved the Aqueduct Protection Program, an inspection, preventative maintenance and repair program that has won accolades from across the U.S. Since 1992, the Water Authority has spent more than $6 million for the inspection and repair work that prevents pipeline failures and unplanned service interruptions… The greatest testament of the Aqueduct Protection Program’s value is its track record: since the program’s inception, no section of inspected pipe has failed."
At a November 2000 meeting, SDCWA voted to "...Award a Professional Services Agreement to Pressure Pipe Inspection Company for $140,000 to Provide Remote Field Eddy Current/Transformer Coupling Inspection Services for Pre-stressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe for the Fiscal Year 2000/2001 Aqueduct Protection Program Shutdowns." In a 12/22/08 press release, Pure Technologies announced that it: "has been awarded a contract for up to [$3] million by …(SDCWA)… The SDCWA contract is for the supply and installation of Pure’s patented SoundPrint® AFO fibre-optic acoustic monitoring system as part of the Water Authority’s Aqueduct Protection Program, and monitoring services for the installation until September 2011. This is the third such contract awarded by the Water Authority to Pure since November 2005. Upon completion of the installation, which is scheduled for January and February 2009, Pure will be monitoring a total of 48 miles of the Authority’s aqueduct system."
Pure Technologies also reported in one of its papers: "Approximately 82 miles of [SDCWA] pipelines are pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes (PCCP)… Made from a combination of steel and concrete, PCCP appeared highly resistant to corrosion and to provide unparalleled inner pipe strength. However, numerous catastrophic failures have occurred with these pipes worldwide. In response, the Water Authority in 1991 instituted a pro-active 30-year program to reinforce the pipes with steel liners. To date, the Water Authority has relined more than 24 miles of its pipelines. The remaining 58 miles of PCCP are targeted for rehabilitation by 2027, helping ensure a safe and reliable water supply to the region."
What these documents show is that these two water utilities developed a comprehensive approach to PCCP in the early to mid '90s and embraced monitoring technology in 2000 almost as soon as it became commercially available. These programs have never been shut down. Howard County inspects PCCP pipes down to 30 inches. In contrast, last November, there was this news account: "Although the fiber-optic system, which uses computers to monitor when wires inside pipes break, would not have applied to the [48-inch] Derwood pipe, the system would be beneficial for monitoring large pipes close to residential areas, WSSC officials said."
WSSC, in a briefing to the full County Council earlier this week, stated that it began inspections in 1981 when it: “first used Visual and Sounding to identify deteriorated areas and delaminations.” This detailed briefing bore little resemblance to the minimal information provided to a Council committee last year about the Derwood break. This week, I also learned that WSSC may have been more proactive in PCCP inspections and repairs and replacements than the public record appeared to show, making use of Sonic/Ultrasonic Pulse Echo to identify micro-cracking in the mid-1990s and using electromagnetic testing in 2001. WSSC may even have begun a comprehensive physical inspection program of its larger PCCP ahead of both Howard County and SDCWA. WSSC used steel in 1997-98 to line about four miles of its largest, 96-inch PCCP, similar to SDCWA’s chosen solution for all of its PCCP. Another four miles of PCCP in various large diameters was replaced in 1989 and in 1997.
Despite such responsible behavior, WSSC allowed long periods between visual inspections. According to the just-released records, there were eight years where little if any PCCP were inspected: 1982, 1983, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005. There were also seven years where more than 7 miles – 37,000 feet - of PCCP were inspected annually: 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2008. There have been three cycles of years of little inspection followed by years of much inspection since 1981.
While various forms of “non-destructive testing” (NDT) first began with inspections in 1997, it does not appear to have been routinely used after that. This record also shows that WSSC still waited seven years longer than Howard County and SDCWA to make use of electronic inspection. While it did first use electronic inspection in 2001, it inspected less than two miles of PCCP that year and didn’t use it again until 2007. WSSC also failed to either inspect or monitor PCCP in diameters below 54 inches even though the smaller diameter PCCP is inspected and monitored by the other water utilities. To its credit, I found a few comments like this: "The sonic/ultrasonic nondestructive testing of the WSSC 96" pipe demonstrated much more good pipe exists than had been anticipated; this saved tens of millions of repair dollars." Pure Technologies also praises WSSC's approach to repairing PCCP where warranted, rather than doing indiscriminate relining or replacement regardless of remaining useful life.
In physically and electronically inspecting 4.7 miles - 24,816 feet - or 1551 sixteen-foot PCCP sections in the fall-winter of 2006-07, WSSC replaced 13 failure-prone sections, less than 1% of the total PCCP. In inspecting 5.8 miles - 30,624 feet - or 1914 sixteen-foot PCCP sections in the spring of 2007, WSSC replaced 2 and repaired 7 failure-prone sections, less than 1/2 of 1%. Internal acoustic fiber optic monitoring cable was also installed for all 10.5 miles. WSSC told the council this week that it costs $250,000 per mile to physically inspect PCCP and then set up the continuous electronic monitoring. It wants to do only twelve miles per year for just $3 million, claiming it doesn’t believe it could get more than that. WSSC also stated that it could do as much as 18 miles per year without disrupting water usage. Does anyone believe that either county would refuse to authorize an additional $1.5 million per year to inspect and install monitoring equipment in an additional six miles of PCCP to perhaps prevent the equivalent of another River Road break?
WSSC has been guilty of too little, too late over the last 28 years in doing regular inspections. It continues to rely on past assumptions about PCCP size and age, that have been shown to be incorrect, in order to save relatively small sums on inspection costs. It then is forced to waste money when PCCP fails. The $500,000 cost to WSSC for the 255 million gallons of water lost in the Derwood and River Road pipe breaks alone could have instead paid to inspect and to install continuous monitoring equipment in two miles of PCCP. Until this week, WSSC appears to have almost concealed what it has done right over the years, a far cry from agencies like MCPS that often take credit where little is due.
While WSSC is now far more straightforward than it was just a few months ago in the aftermath of the Derwood pipe break, I believe that the governments and ratepayers of both counties should exercise greater oversight of all of its operating and CIP budget requests to help WSSC maintain its newfound virtue. This means asking questions to get specific information about the sizes and ages of all broken water pipes, PCCP or not, and the ages and break history of all water pipes proposed for replacement. We need this factual information to decide for ourselves how much WSSC really needs for future infrastructure repair and replacement.
Whatever we decide, we can't punish lower income residents in both counties, in good times or bad, with flat fees for billing or infrastructure instead of instituting aggressively progressive rates that can also motivate greater water conservation efforts. We need to continuously monitor WSSC for potential catastrophic failure as much as we need to demand that WSSC continuously monitor all of its PCCP for potential catastrophic failure.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Can Anyone Believe What WSSC Says About Its PCCP?
By Wayne Goldstein.
In my New Year's Day column, I quoted from news accounts from the '90s that described WSSC's experiences with major breaks of its Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipes (PCCP) as early as 1975, a problem that became much more widespread in the '80s. What has WSSC done to deal with this problem in the decades since? WSSC apparently has been unable or unwilling to provide any detailed information to the government or to the rate-paying public about those efforts. However, in the September/October 2008 issue of Underground Infrastructure Management Magazine, WSSC was far more forthcoming, although not necessarily more accurate nor entirely truthful:
"Given its size and stature, [WSSC] cannot afford to take a reactive approach to maintaining its infrastructure. As a result of several …(PCCP) water transmission main breaks in the early and mid-1980s, WSSC began investigating inspection and testing techniques for PCCP that eventually led to an aggressive and innovative approach to assess the condition of its transmission mains with the intent of preventing future failures and optimizing the pipe-line service life. One area of particular concern was a portion of the Commission’s 400 miles of PCCP installed during the late 1960s and early 1970s."
"WSSC was an early adaptor of non-destructive testing, monitoring and inspection of PCCP. In the late 1980s, WSSC began its PCCP inspection program with internal visual and sounding methods. WSSC researched and worked closely with consultants during the development of the non-destructive testing and monitoring techniques widely used today for PCCP. WSSC’s PCCP program when first established included the inspection of all 60 miles of PCCP water transmission mains 54-inch and greater."
"WSSC is currently working with Pure Technologies and others, to embark on an expanded program to inspect all 140 miles of PCCP 48 inches or larger. According to WSSC, this proactive program is key to the management of these critical assets. By proactively maintaining an understanding of the condition of the transmission mains, WSSC is able to optimize the service life of the pipelines, identify short-term repairs, plan for long-term capital improvements and provide value to ratepayers."
"WSSC uses a combination of visual and sounding inspection, sonic/ultrasonic testing, and electromagnetic inspections to assess the condition of its large-diameter PCCP. The inspection identifies anomalies, areas in need of repair and establishes a baseline condition, which includes estimating the number of broken wires in each pipe section. WSSC uses acoustic monitoring methods to identify and track additional wire breaks. To date, WSSC has inspected all PCCP water transmission mains 54 inches and larger and installed acoustical monitoring equipment for 17 of its 60 miles of PCCP of this diameter."
"…Mike Higgins, regional manager for Pure Technologies, said that WSSC is one of the leaders in the area of large diameter PCCP inspection nationwide. 'A lot of agencies would have replaced or sliplined the pipelines, but WSSC was able to go in and find the problem areas and fixed them to operate the system in a safe manner,' he said. 'The WSSC experience has shown the ability to extend the service life of problematic pipelines.' "
Let's look at the facts to see how accurate this story is. In a response to questions from the Montgomery County Council about the June 2008 break of the 48-inch PCCP in Derwood, WSSC wrote: "It is known in the industry that large diameter PCCP pipelines manufactured in the period from 1960 through early 1970 similar to the one that broke have a proven track record of reliability and do not have high break history." The Derwood PCCP was installed in 1969.
A national study of PCCP breaks published in the spring of 2008 found "a significantly increased rate of failure for pipe installed between 1971 and 1979. Fully 50 percent of the catastrophic leaks and breaks recorded were manufactured or installed between those years." It appears that WSSC fudges the years of greatest concern by at least 2 to 3 years from "the late 1960s and early 1970s" to the 1970s when reporting to the government and to the public as compared to what it tells its water industry colleagues.
What this also means is that the other 50% of PCCP that failed in the national study were manufactured or installed in other years. The River Road PCCP was installed in 1964. It may even be that most or all of WSSC's PCCP was installed in the '60s and '70s, meaning that pipe failures might be from throughout this time period. As I indicated in my last column, the biggest problem with PCCP is the susceptibility of the prestressed wire to corrosion, regardless of its thickness or its year of installation. Once the protective cement coating is breached, it is only a matter of time before the wires start to break. Thicker wires just take longer to break than thinner wires. The result could be that the older PCCP from the '60s with thicker wires could fail in the same time period as the younger PCCP from the '70s with thinner wires.
As for WSSC being an early adaptor of PCCP inspection processes, the record is either scant or contrary. According to the 1996 news account referenced in my last column: "WSSC General Manager Cortez White said yesterday that the utility had developed special imaging equipment to test the integrity of the concrete pipe. White said the section of pipe that blew Tuesday was scheduled to be tested within a year. He said other sections of concrete pipe have been found to be at risk and were replaced without disruption in service to WSSC customers."
Another WSSC General Manager said this at a February 2007 meeting: "Lastly, Mr. Brunhart noted it is time for the six-mile inspection of the PCCP as it had not been done for five to six years." WSSC also noted in its July 2007 Utility-Wide Master Plan Phase 1A – Final Report: "The PCCP inspection program was said to have lagged in recent years, and was felt by the Delphi workshop group to have been beneficial in identifying issues before failure of the pipe. It is recommended that WSSC reinvest in this program, since the consequence of failure of large diameter transmission mains is very high."
There was also this response last month about the River Road PCCP break: "Among the possible causes, they said, was corrosion of metal support wires inside the concrete pipe, which passed its last inspection in 1998, or shifts in the ground beneath it. 'Something has happened in the last 10 years, and we hope to figure that out,' said Gary Gumm, chief engineer for the [WSSC]." Another account stated: "…the pipeline was last inspected in 1998 and was scheduled to be reinspected by 2011."
Apparently, WSSC had a program to inspect 66-inch PCCP like that along River Road as little as once every 13 years. It appears to have inspected some of its largest PCCP every 5-6 years, but then not to have ever inspected "smaller" 48-inch PCCP like the one in Derwood, even 39 years after installation. How does this compare to the development of inspection technologies and programs elsewhere?
Pure Technologies, one of the companies now helping WSSC to inspect and monitor its PCCP, has written a series of research papers about PCCP over the years. According to one such paper: "Research done in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation investigated the use of continuous acoustic monitoring to track the deterioration of prestressed concrete pipelines. Results from work done at the Agua Fria pipeline in Arizona indicated that deliberate wire cuts generated large distinctive acoustic anomalies, which could be recorded by suitable equipment."
"In 1993, Pure Technologies Inc. began to use continuous acoustic monitoring to track the failure of unbonded post-tensioning strands in concrete buildings and parking structures. The size and complexity of these structures required the development of specialized equipment and software to collect, manage, and analyze the large amounts of data flowing from these sites. These programs, techniques and equipment designs have been applied to the monitoring of prestressed concrete pipe."
"In 1996, Pipeline Acoustic Systems (PAS) of Phoenix, Arizona was awarded a contract to supply a 6,200-ft. hydrophone array and data acquisition system to be deployed at different locations in the pipeline. PAS selected Pure Technologies to design and manufacture the system. A prototype system was developed and first tested in September, 1996. After several design modifications and software enhancements, a functional system was deployed in August, 1997."
A different company wrote this: "Immediately upon organization of Pipeline Technologies Inc. in June 1995, the firm answered a formidable challenge of the pipeline industry to develop a method of determining the structural condition of buried large diameter water pipelines while they remain in service. PTI, parent firm of Pipetech International, conducted a rigorous development program to meet this challenge, resulting in the introduction of acoustic emission technology to the PCCP industry in late 1996. In the decade since its introduction, acoustic emission technology has become the widely used technology of choice for determining the health of PCCP pipelines on every continent throughout the world."
Given that the technology to allow for the continuous monitoring for the sound of wire breaks, first through hydrophones and later through fiber-optics, has been available for at least 12 years, when did WSSC and other water utilities take advantage of it? Tomorrow, I will show the comprehensive approach of other water utilities to monitoring its PCCP, in stark contrast to WSSC.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
WSSC Endangers Us By Failing To Confront The PCCP Problem
By Wayne Goldstein.
Two days before Christmas, River Road became a river, endangering the lives of nine people when a 66-inch, 5-½ foot wide, water main burst, sending 2500 gallons per second racing down the hilly, tree-lined section where it is a two-lane road. Someone must have been watching over these people that day as it happened so close to the only fire station in the county staffed by fire and rescue personnel trained in swift water rescue. They performed in the same professional manner on River Road that day, as they routinely do on the Potomac River, assisted by a Maryland State police helicopter also doing what it sometimes does over the same river.
It is fortunate that these well-trained government employees did their job as well as they did, preventing harm in spite of the decades-long failure of WSSC to do its job the right way, which might have prevented this life-threatening event from ever happening in the first place. During several days of world-wide coverage, WSSC failed to reveal how much it had been doing wrong as well as what little it had been doing right.
In researching news coverage of big pipe breaks - present and past - and researching documents from WSSC and other sources, what I have learned both alarms and comforts me. I want readers of this column to become familiar enough with the historical and technological details so that if they decide they want WSSC to do its job right and prevent a future River Road river, they won’t be tricked or confused by WSSC technical doubletalk. Readers will learn what WSSC knew, when WSSC knew it, and what WSSC has done or failed to do about it.
The water main on River Road, as well as many other large-diameter water mains in the county, is made of Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP). PCCP was introduced in 1943 as a way to deal with wartime steel shortages and still be able to build large pipes. PCCP was so successful that it was widely installed until the early 1980s, because it makes effective use of the compressive strength of concrete and the efficient use of very high strength reinforcing steel, usually referred to as prestressing steel, giving it the ability to carry water at pressures up to 300 psi (pounds per square inch) or higher. The water in the pipe coming into your house is probably about 50 psi.
However, these large pipes first began to fail in 1955. The failure rate of PCCP became much more noticeable in the early ‘80s across the nation and close to home. In fact, a 6/23/90 news account noted: “Yesterday's water main break was the fourth in Howard [County] since 1983. The 15-year-old pipeline system has been troublesome since 1984 and is being replaced at a cost of $7 million. The manufacturer, GHA Lock Joint Inc., has been sued by several jurisdictions, including the [WSSC]… The WSSC has had particular trouble with the company's pipes under Georgia Avenue - a 48-inch main has created serious floods there and near Andrews Air Force Base.” With some local PCCP beginning to fail in Howard County as early as 1983, just 8 years after installation, WSSC knew that PCCP had problems 25 years ago.
There were far more details about this problem in a 3/14/96 news account: “[WSSC] worked to restore water pressure and customer confidence yesterday, a day after one of the area's largest water mains broke and left nearly a half-million people in Montgomery County with little or no water. But with much of the 9,500-mile system of water and sewage lines reaching a critical age, utility officials could offer no guarantees that ruptures like the one Tuesday in an 8-foot-wide main in Potomac [on Glen Road] won't happen again soon… Although officials could not say what caused the break in the pre-stressed, wire-reinforced pipe, they said premature aging was a likely culprit. The pipe was made in 1970 by Interpace Corp., of New Jersey, a now-defunct company that WSSC and other utilities successfully sued for providing inferior materials… WSSC has an estimated 200 miles of pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe, most of which was manufactured by Interpace. WSSC statistics show more than two dozen major breaks of Interpace pipes since 1975, including the 60-inch main that failed last April in College Park and triggered a water emergency in Prince George's County.”
Recent news accounts stated: “The WSSC said the pipe under River Road was manufactured by Interpace, a defunct company that became notorious for a series of water main breaks in the 1970s and 1980s. The high-strength wire in prestressed concrete pipes acts as a backbone. In the 1970s, Interpace began using a new type of wire, which it called Class IV, according to its own standards. The wire had more tensile strength than other types, but it was prone to corrosion that caused it to become brittle and break. If enough wire breaks, a rupture is much more likely. The River Road water main, however, was placed before Interpace began using Class IV wire. It used an earlier type of wire that has proved very resistant to becoming brittle, according to the utility. Interpace claimed that its pipes would last 100 years before requiring replacement.”
In fact, a 2000 presentation included similar observations about the wire. “The so-called Interpace Class IV wire issue has been a nightmare for the PCCP industry. The issue was the result of wire manufacture's efforts to get a little more efficiency from the prestressing wire in the late 1970's and early 1980's. There were some indicators that the high strengths achieved were accompanied by poor performance. It was a more common position that wire could no more be too strong than a person can be too rich. If only it could have been limited to Interpace, but unfortunately it was not.”
Decades of studies have determined that the prestressing wires in PCCP, the source of its great strength, is also the source of its greatest weakness, through a process known as hydrogen embrittlement. “Elemental hydrogen (H) readily diffuses into steel. Hydrogen can cause steel to become brittle and fail at a tensile stress less than the yield stress of the steel. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in high-strength steels… and when the steel is under stress. The existing prestressed concrete pipe is made of high-strength wire that has a high residual stress.”
What happens is that the cement that coats the wires may begin to break down, perhaps because of acidic ground water. This then allows the water and the accompanying hydrogen to come in contact with the wires. Over time, the wires weaken and break. “As a rough estimate, a high-pressure (200 psi or greater) pipe may tolerate fewer than 25 broken wires; pipes carrying ~50 psi can lose several hundred wires before catastrophic failure occurs.”
One study notes: “…A strand of ¼-inch Class III wire will possess a gross wrapping stress of 180,000 psi for ¼-in wire. A relatively small amount of corrosion will cause a wire to break...” In fact, the thicker Class III is as vulnerable to breaking as the thinner Class IV; it just may take a few more years for the process to begin. This is important to know because it appears that Interpace and its Class IV has become the scapegoat and perhaps a diversion for all problems with PCCP.
Just as the strength of the wire is also its Achilles heel, so the spectacular way in which each wire fails is also the best way to prevent the even more spectacular failure of the entire pipe. The same study notes: “A relatively small amount of corrosion will cause a wire to break, resulting in a sudden release of energy. The energy is dissipated along the pipe (through the pipe wall and through the water column) and the associated acoustic response can be detected…” A history of PCCP further states: “The concept of monitoring pipelines for acoustic signals, based on technology used by the U.S. Naval Submarine operations, was born when workmen noticed loud popping noises made by prestressing wires as they broke. These wires can be under as much as 8000 lb. of tension and when they break, some of this potential energy is converted to sound waves that propagate though the water in the pipe.
“The initial wire break is only the first in a series of acoustic events associated with that wire. The broken wire immediately reanchors itself in the adjacent mortar… The wire remains inactive and silent until the surrounding mortar becomes weakened by progressive deterioration. Then, the wire contracts several additional inches until it is reanchored in strong mortar. Each of the hundreds of subsequent energy releases will send a distinct sound through the pipe. This process of deterioration may take years to progress to the point of ultimate pipe rupture.
“The system used to detect these acoustic events consists of hydrophones, a signal processor, and communication links. A series of hydrophones is inserted through the wall of the PCCP and into the water stream. When a prestressing wire breaks, the hydrophones detect the sound as it propagates through the water and the signal processor identifies the event. AET (Acoustic Emission Theory) can also discover the event's point of origin. Both the speed of sound through water and the spacing between any two hydrophones are known. By comparing the arrival time at two adjacent hydrophones, the signal processor can locate a wire break to within ±5 ft.”
Readers now should understand the PCCP problem and the best way to diagnose it before it is too late. This PCCP history, published in February 1997, concluded with this:
“AET benefits pipe owners by reducing operating expenses, including monetary losses from disruption of service and liability for flooded structures. By monitoring the condition of PCCP pipelines, problem areas can be identified before a failure occurs. The inspection process itself costs as little as $2/linear foot, and proper maintenance with AET can extend a pipe's useful life by years or even decades. The overall cost of AET maintenance can safely be estimated as 10% - 50% less than that of replacing an entire pipeline. AET can be of assistance to municipalities making long-range capital improvement plans. A decision to completely replace a pipeline is often based on the frequency of repairs to the existing pipeline. While certain pipe sections may require rehabilitation, the greater part of the pipeline may be in perfect condition. A thorough AET analysis allows a municipality to save money by repairing only the discrete sections that need work, rather than replacing the entire line.”
The next column on this subject will focus on what WSSC has done in the 25 years since it first learned of the PCCP problem.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Maryland's Sordid Slots History About to be Repeated
By Wayne Goldstein, MCCF Immediate Past President.
In 1905, American philosopher George Santayana, wrote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Maryland voters appear to be ready to condemn themselves to repeating one of their state's worst episodes. But before they do, let's review that sordid history as reported by The Washington Post.
Slots were first legalized in Maryland in 1943 in Anne Arundel County. Calvert County got slots in 1947, the same year that Charles, St. Mary's and Worchester Counties also tried to "put the counties in better financial condition and particularly help their school programs." Only St. Mary's County succeeded that year. Charles County and Prince George's County won state and voter approval for slots in 1949. The Charles County bill called for slots revenues to be used for a "reduction of the Charles County real estate [tax,]… reduction of outstanding school bonds and interest" and for a fire company, library and hospital fund. The Prince George's law was ruled invalid and unconstitutional because of its vague wording that called slots "amusement devices." In the end, slots were only legalized in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's Counties.
In 1950, Congress banned the interstate shipment of slot machines unless a state sought exemption. Only Nevada did so. Maryland decided not to seek this waiver because of "a fear of outsiders 'muscling in' on Maryland's slot machine business." In 1958, one of the three largest U. S. slot machine manufacturers relocated to Maryland from Chicago to be in the only other state truly friendly to slots outside of Nevada and to also be able to supply the Maryland market. Most of its business was in Nevada, where it also had an assembly plant in Reno that supplied 80%-90% of that city's machines.
In 1951, a Prince George's County state senator reported being offered a $30,000 bribe to support gambling. In 1963, a state delegate claimed he was offered $300 to be out of the room when a vote on an anti-slots bill came up for a vote. In 1966, Spiro Agnew reported being offered a $200,000 bribe to support gambling while running for governor.
One of the most bizarre gambling issues was the placing of slots on piers in Colonial Beach, Va. Charles County, Md. was allowed to license slots on these Virginia piers and neither Maryland nor Virginia officials could stop it because the building was in the section of the Potomac River considered to be part of Charles County. There were 600 slot machines at the Reno, the Monte Carlo, and the S.S. Freestone at Freestone Point, Va. In 1958, Maryland banned such river-based gambling by passing a law that made it illegal "to operate slot machines in a structure which could not be reached on foot from the Maryland shore." The Supreme Court refused to review the law.
A March 1954 article titled: "Slot Addict Draws 2-Year Jail Term" stated that "A [man] with an 'uncontrollable urge' to play slot machines drew a two-year term here today for stealing $1765 [$13,500 in 2007 dollars] worth of the 'one-armed bandits' and their cash contents…"
In the summer of 1954, the Washington Post sent a reporter to Charles County to see what had happened to Charles County five years after legalizing slots. He wrote a five-part series. "Charles County - where the slot machine is king - may best be described as the place where the gambler winks at the law while the public official keeps his eyes closed… It is where prosperity has come to some 300 individuals - the slot machine owners and operators - who enjoy a take of more than five million dollars a year. [$38 million in 2007 dollars] It is where money transactions are mostly secret - and sometimes a mystery. As one bank official in the county put it, We put out 10 tons of coins a week, but practically none of it ever gets back.' …It is where a man loses $15,000 [$115,000 in 2007 dollars] of his father's estate by pulling a handle, and the community gives it only a passing thought." The Post reporter observed children under 16 being encouraged to gamble, numerous examples of slots license applications being incomplete, and non-residents being allowed to operate machines in violation of the law.
"In the five years… the gambled nickel has helped build dozens of plush new places worth millions along the 20-mile tobacco land stretch of U.S. 301…" "You don't open your mouth to voice disfavor in Charles County 'if you know what's good for you.' To be seen talking to a newspaper reporter is poison on the communities swept by fear of open self-expression… Store proprietors who handle none of the one-armed bandits said they cannot express their opinion 'for the record' lest their businesses suffer a financial setback.
"Today, even ministers, still deeply set against what they call 'the curse,' speak in low voices, and only on the promise that 'you won't use my name.' There are other preachers, bitterly outspoken against the slots, but they no longer serve Charles County… On six occasions, agents for distributors, tavern owners and one public official suggested to the… reporter to 'get out of the county.' …A LaPlata storekeeper related how his neighbor's boy stole $20 from his own mother and lost it all in a nickel machine at the corner drug store…"
As a result of this series, a grand jury was convened to look in to the allegations of flagrant violations of alcoholic beverage, child gambling, and slot machine registration laws, which included questioning the reporter. According to an October 1954 editorial: "The report filed Tuesday by the Charles County grand jury can give scant pride to the county's residents… These findings regarding slot machines are identical with assertions contained in [the reporter's] stories… These are facts which the people of Charles County need to recognize and face and weigh. They are, we think, the inevitable price of legalized gambling. They are the dividends which the county as a whole receives from the slot machine profits siphoned off by a privileged few."
A month later, the Post was able to report that "…Democrats captured control of the Board of [Charles] County Commissioners after a pre-election pledge to end the slot machine and liquor 'mess' in the county… In Charles County, long a Republican stronghold, slot machine and liquor law violations became a campaign issue after a grand jury denounced abuses and recommended clean-up action."
In a 1959 series, the Post reported: "Charles County is in the economic doldrums, with slot machine profits balancing the budgets of the County itself and of some 300 of its businesses… Heavy slot machine revenues have allowed the County Commissioners to drop their real estate tax rate to the lowest level in the State… The small [slots] operators are desperately fearful that the big, new casinos in the County, with the guaranteed jackpots and advertising will win away their customers…"
Another 1959 article stated: "The director of the Maryland Crime Investigating Committee said today his organization received funds recently from Anne Arundel's 11 slot machine distributors. The director… said the contributions were received with 'complete objectivity and impartiality.' 'The agency… will not protect any individuals who have or have not contributed to its financial operations. But it must be understood that an organization of this type cannot operate without money. We are not supported financially by the State, county or other public aid.' "
In 1960, Charles County voters narrowly approved limiting establishments to no more than 35 slot machines each. For the 1962 election, Charles County resident David Hume decided to run for Governor on a platform that emphasized outlawing slots. His advocacy and candidacy successfully pushed incumbent Governor Tawes to promise the "eventual abolition of slot machines in Maryland." Maryland Comptroller Louis Goldstein, a Southern Maryland native whose brother's cruise line took passengers to a casino, also backed slots abolition. In 1963, a plan was drafted to phase out slots from 1965-1968. It was passed that year, but not before the House of Delegates went from narrowly voting to oppose the plan to voting overwhelmingly for it a week later. The Maryland Senate managed to fend off strangling amendments to also pass it.
In 1965, the Maryland Senate killed a bill to delay the abolition of slots by two years. During the phase out, which required establishments to reduce the number of slot machines every year, some operators tried to get around it by creating multiple-unit slot machines that allowed up to ten players to put coins in for each pull of the handle. The state passed a bill in 1966 to thwart this effort by determining that such ten-unit machines would count as 10 machines, rather than as one.
Also in 1966, slots supporters got a judge to issue an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the slots ban. The Court of Special Appeals overruled the judge. In 1966, Spiro Agnew campaigned to support the phase out of slots, and followed through as Governor. He also supported banning pinball machines, which were being used to provide cash or prizes as a substitute for slot machines.
In March 1968, a few months before the total ban was to go into effect on July 1, an aide to the Comptroller recommended legalizing slot machines throughout the state, saying they would bring in $50 million [$295 million in 2007 dollars]. It went nowhere. In December 1968, the Court of Appeals ruled "that machines converted to pay off in merchandise or tokens were just as illegal as those that paid off in cash." Only pinball machines paying off in free games were legal.
Bills were unsuccessfully introduced in the next few years to legalize slots again. The focus then shifted to being among the first to legalize a lottery, which was approved by voters in 1972. A 1981 story about the introduction of a permanent instant lottery described the effect it had on people: " '…Just like slot machines. I could buy these tickets all night, This is fun. It's almost like going to Atlantic City. I'm going to buy one more.' " A man noted: " 'You're spending unnecessary money that you don't have to spend,' he said. 'If this game hadn't come up, if I hadn't have spent, I'd have put it for my kids in school, and for payments on my new car.' But he kept buying the tickets."
A 1990 story about the Lottery pointed out that ours "is among the nation's leaders in per capita receipts… The state remains of two minds, spending about $6 million annually to advertise the lottery, then contributing $10,000 a year to a hot line operated by the National Center for Pathological Gambling… The $360 million expected to be contributed by the lottery this year will make it the state's third-largest source of general fund income… Lawmakers again this year are of many minds about gambling… [Some] want to siphon off lottery money for the estimated 170,000 Maryland adults classified in a recent [NIH] study as 'problem' or 'pathological' gamblers."
Throughout the '90s, there was a constant undercurrent of lobbying for slots. It was strongest in the run-up to the 1998 election, when challengers to incumbent Governor Glendening indicated they would support legalizing slots as adjacent states implemented or increased gambling opportunities, even as he remained unequivocally opposed to slots.
On November 4, some who will vote for slots will do so knowing of these mistakes of gambling, but not really caring. The phrase "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" could also apply to the backlash against slots abuses in the '50s that led to the bans of the '60s. Recent studies have found that gambling addiction begins to take off about one year after slots are introduced and crime starts to rise about five years after gambling facilities open. We may find that around 2015, Marylanders really notice the harms of slots. That's when those who so blithely voted for slots may begin to think that it's time to repeal them. Perhaps around 2025, Maryland will have once again done so.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Slots Study Tells The Truth of All That's False About Gambling
By Wayne Goldstein, MCCF Immediate Past President.
Last week I stated that I would tell you some of the unique gambling history of Maryland. However, the same day, the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research, located at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), released a detailed study titled: "An Analysis of the Impact of Introducing Video Lottery Terminals [VLTs/Slots] in Maryland." The researchers elaborate on the false promises being made by the state government and gambling interests and tell the truth about the negative impacts of gambling.
We have been told that slots will raise money for education. This is a false promise. The study states: "DLS [State Department of Legislative Services] has already included the Education Trust Fund (ETF) as substitutable, or fungible, dollars as they have subtracted the ETF from expenditures. Thus DLS assumes that the expenditure budget can be reduced by the $660 million ETF. This leaves a net effect of $564.6 million." What this means is that all slots dollars "dedicated" to education could result in the same amount of education dollars, now coming from other sources, instead being used for other purposes, so there could be NO increase in education funding as a result of slots.
The study describes estimates that Marylanders spend $550 million per year gambling in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The slots revenue estimate by DLS assumes that every penny of the $550 million would instead be spent on Maryland slots and an additional $800 million would also be spent by Marylanders. As I've pointed out, these other states, some with lower income taxes and lower property taxes because of a reliance on gambling revenue, and also suffering greater poverty, will not let this happen without fighting back hard with better and more sophisticated gambling facilities to keep the loyalty of their Maryland customers.
"The Lottery Commission estimates that revenues will suffer a permanent 10 percent loss due to the presence of slots… The second effect is a substitution of dollars from other purchases to slots. "Consumers are faced with a budget constraint and thus if they increase their spending on slots, other purchases must be decreased."
This has been seen across the nation the past year as gambling revenue declined for the first time in what had been considered a recession-proof business. Furthermore, in 2004 "[Professor Earl] Grinols estimated the average losses in sales revenue given a $1,000 increase in casino revenues to be $381 for businesses within 30 miles of the casino." Not only is there a loss of tax revenue from these sales, but the businesses are harmed by this competition for customer dollars and some may go out of business as a result of this competition.
The study describes a “social benefit” in the form of the satisfaction people get from visits to slot machines. This entertainment is valued at $25 million. The study finds no job creation benefit from slots. With unemployment in Maryland averaging 4% in 2008, the authors believe any new jobs created by slots “may merely be a substitute from other employment.”
On the other hand, the social costs are considerable. The study has calculated the “Incidence of Potential Pathological & Problem Gambling in Maryland Upon the Introduction of” Slots. The authors found that 2/3rds of pathological & problem gamblers will use "abused dollars" which is "a term applied to dollars that are lost gambling that the gambler acquires through family, employers or friends under false pretense." Each gambler will create an average lifetime debt of $35,000. An average of 5% will declare bankruptcy, 5% will commit violent crimes, 5% will commit auto thefts and larceny, 20% will attempt suicide, and 28% will divorce, causing as many as 16,000 divorces. These addicted gamblers will miss an average of 9.8 hours of work per month because of gambling, about 6% of the work week.
The cost of addiction treatment is an average of $2,340 per gambler, whether or not they receive treatment and the actual cost is an average of $7,022 for those who obtain treatment. This works out to a total of $135,366,660 just for treatment of new gambling addicts who will be generated by slots coming to the state. It does not include those who are currently addicted and for whom Maryland provides no treatment dollars despite regularly earning $500 million per year from its lottery. The $6 million per year in slots revenue that would be pledged for addiction treatment will be a drop in the bucket for what will be needed. It would take almost 23 years for every newly addicted slots gambler to receive money from the state for treatment. Since the result of this addiction is that the gambler loses everything and is also likely to take money from the family and from the employer, there may be no other financial option for treatment, if existing health insurance does not cover treatment.
It is perhaps ironic that while the financial impact of gambling addiction is so high, a 1985 study found that treatment has such a high benefit cost ratio in terms of the impact on the reduction of the use of abused dollars that it made "pathological gambling one of the least costly illnesses to treat."
In 2004, Professor Grinols calculated the annual cost to society of pathological & problem gamblers as $11,630 in 2007 dollars for each pathological gambler and $3,315 for each problem gambler. According to the 1999 National Opinion Research Center (NORC) report, the "prevalence of both pathological and problem gamblers doubles when a casino opens within 50 miles (versus the 50 to 250 miles away where most other gambling venues outside of Maryland are located). As previously mentioned, we believe that the majority of Marylanders will be located within 20 miles of one of the proposed gaming sites. This means that the amount of new gamblers, both pathological and problem, in Maryland, will double. Using the NORC (1999) prevalence rates of 0.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, as well as the American Community Survey population estimate of 4,253,595 Maryland adults, we obtain figures of 34,029 pathological and 59,550 problem gamblers. It is important to clarify that these figures are not the total number of gamblers in Maryland, but instead represent only those current nongamblers who would develop a gambling problem upon the introduction of VLTs [slots]. Similarly, at the overall level, the social costs noted are those that would arise only when gambling was introduced."
The 1999 NORC report found "that approximately 2.5 million adults in the U.S. are pathological gamblers and that another 3 million are problem gamblers... This same study finds that pathological, problem and at-risk gambling are proportionately higher among African-Americans and other ethnic groups. It is also noted that problem and pathological gamblers are more likely than low-risk gamblers to have been on welfare, declare bankruptcy, and to have been arrested or incarcerated."
Other studies have found that "that machine or slots gamblers have a quicker transition into pathological gambling (1.09 year versus 3.58-3.89 years) compared with other forms of gambling." Grinols and David B. Mustard examined all U.S. casinos outside of Nevada in 2004, and found "that around 8 percent of crime in counties with casinos was attributable to those casinos."
"Utilizing the costs from Grinols (2004) this would total to an annual cost in 2008 dollars of $418.7 million for pathological gamblers and $208.8 million for problem gamblers. Utilizing the social costs from Walker (2004) [Professor Douglas M. Walker, a seemingly preferred consultant to the casino industry] the annual social cost is $228.3 million. This range ($228.3 to $627.5 million) is a higher bound as we estimated a large impact in the number of problem and pathological gamblers. In fact, many pathological and problem gamblers currently exist in our population but are not identified. This estimate utilizes the increased incidence at an extreme end but no other incidence estimates currently exist." Even based on Professor Walker's much lower calculation of social costs, these studies show how little additional net revenue the state will actually gain from slots, especially when the expected, aggressive, counter-response from other states takes effect. If Professor Grinols costs are correct, Maryland will actually lose money by legalizing slots.
At its regular meeting last week, MCCF voted overwhelmingly to oppose the slots constitutional amendment after learning of some of the harms of gambling addiction. A Washington Post article this week cited its recent poll showing wide support for slots. It was reported: "About one-third of voters who think slots may have negative consequences still support the plan…" It is unlikely that these voters understand the full extent of the "negative consequences" as detailed in this column and elsewhere. Unfortunately, history may be poised to repeat itself in Maryland in 2008 as happened in 1947, when slots were first proposed and accepted in this state as the solution to the financial needs of government. Next week I will explore the history of the eventually successful battle to eliminate slots from the state, despite the lure of the easy money that some local governments quickly became addicted to.
Readers can access the study here.
Note: An edited version of this column is also appearing in the Montgomery Sentinel.
Friday, October 24, 2008
What They Don't Want You To Know About Gambling Addiction
By Wayne Goldstein, MCCF Immediate Past President.
There is a conspiracy to conceal the truth about gambling addiction that rivals the conspiracy to conceal the truth about tobacco addiction. For decades, this nation had an endless debate about whether nicotine was addictive and whether smoking caused cancer and heart disease. We are in the early stages of a similar debate about gambling addiction.
Organizations that profit from gambling argue that gambling is legitimate entertainment, that very few recreational gamblers become addicted, that it is someone’s genetic makeup that predisposes them to become any kind of addict that may then result in gambling addiction, and, most importantly, that the findings of gambling addiction research are always inconclusive and always require further research. I have looked at dozens of abstracts of a wide range of such studies. All seem to minimally advance knowledge of gambling addiction and usually call for more study, including three published since June 2007: “It is necessary to continue prospective research on exposure and adaptation theories as potential explanations for the development of pathological gambling... Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the relationship between gambling and health in older adults in the context of healthy aging… Future research addressing whether underlying constructs, confounding variables, or interactions exist will further specify PG [pathological gambling] risk and inform prevention and intervention efforts.”
In February 2006, two professors, Earl L. Grinols and David B. Mustard published a revised “Casinos, Crime, and Community Costs.” In it, they drew significant conclusions based on analyzing much information. They were the first to claim that casinos sometimes lowered crime in the early years through job opportunities but then increased crime after about five years as growing numbers of gambling addicts began to commit more crimes and criminals began to prey more and more on tourists and local residents in casino counties: “We find that crime increases over time in casino counties, and that casinos do not just shift crime from neighboring regions, but create crime. We estimate the crime-related social costs in casino counties at approximately $75 dollars per adult per year… Our sample covers all 3,165 US counties from 1977-96… Our empirical strategy addresses many limitations of the current research. First, by conducting the most exhaustive investigation and utilizing a comprehensive county-level data set that includes every U.S. county we eliminate sample selection concerns. Second, by analyzing crime effects over time we exploit the time series nature of our data. Third, we are the first to articulate a comprehensive theory about how casinos could increase or decrease crime. Last, we use the most exhaustive set of control variables, most of which are commonly excluded from other studies.”
In the January 2008 edition of a journal, another professor, Douglas M. Walker, responded to this study with “Do Casinos Really Cause Crime?” There was much technical discussion, but what made the biggest impression on me was this: “...Sponsors of my consulting work have included the casino industry (e.g., American Gaming Association, Nevada Resort Association, Casino Association of Indiana) as well as government/research organizations (Alberta Gaming Research Institute and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse). I assume that the industry has hired me as a consultant because my social cost methodology (welfare economics) leads to significantly lower social cost estimates than the methodologies used by other researchers, including Grinols and Mustard. Much has been made of financial ties that researchers sometimes have to industry. For example, Grinols and Mustard have questioned the validity of casino crime research that was conducted or funded by pro- or anti-casino groups (28). In other work, Grinols has cited a paper of mine (Walker 2003) as being an example of “shadow research,” or work that is “funded in the hope or expectation that it will contradict research unfavorable to the sponsoring industry.”
In the same January 2008 journal, Grinols and Mustard answered with: “Correctly Critiquing Casino-Crime Causality” where they write: “Professor Walker raises five concerns that are standard in empirical research. We addressed these concerns in the working and published versions of the paper and discussed them with the referees and editor during the review process. Some are well-known statistical issues, some are data limitations, and some are methodology issues. All of his concerns speak of potential problems. He includes no new research or statistical results to provide evidence that the potential problems are actual problems or that they are important... Because he presents no new data, no new research, and his criticisms are largely addressed in the working and published versions of our paper, we have no reasons to alter the conclusions of our existing research.”
This “Battle of the Research Professors” takes place in other fields all of the time. However, one side in such battles is usually not backed by a multi-billion industry which has put together a comprehensive research conspiracy using an array of organizations and individuals to thwart those who would tell a different story from their research findings. At the front lines of this conspiracy to legitimize gambling is Harvard University. Harvard has been a co-conspirator since the Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addictions accepted a research contract in 2000 from The National Center for Responsible Gaming to form the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders. “The Institute’s mission is to alleviate the individual, social, medical and economic burdens caused by pathological gambling through support of rigorous scientific research. Advancing understanding of pathological gambling and related psychiatric disorders, such as substance abuse, will lead to improved methods of diagnosis, intervention, treatment and prevention.”
A 6/16/08 article titled: “Gambling with science - Determined to defeat lawsuits over addiction, the casino industry is funding research at a Harvard-affiliated lab” tells the story of this conspiracy:With the ugly specter of gambling addiction, of ruined lives and families, hanging over their heads, gaming advocates will bolster their cases with research from the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG), a nonprofit group, associated with Harvard University, that funds most of the scientific research on gambling addiction. The research will show that only a few unfortunate souls -- those predisposed to addiction -- will get into trouble, while everyone else can gamble for entertainment with no ill effects... But there's a serious kink in the studies: The NCRG is a wing of the casinos' main trade group, the American Gaming Association, which has committed a total of $22 million to the center. To ethicists and casino critics, that relationship is a cautionary tale of science getting too close to industry. While NCRG leaders say they fund independent science, it's not a coincidence that the science aligns so well with the interests of the casinos. It's not that gambling executives are tampering with research findings, or scientists are skewing results. Rather, gaming executives are drawing extravagant conclusions from the studies. By trumpeting these conclusions, the gaming industry is helping casinos gain a legal foothold across the country -- and covering up the ways casinos profit from gambling addiction.
An example of the ways that the gambling industry simultaneously hides behind its research front groups and undermines the legitimacy of these groups is epitomized by the brochure for the upcoming 9th Annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction, to be held November 16-18, 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. My credulity is stretched to the maximum simply by learning that a conference to deal with gambling addiction will be held in a casino. Imagine a conference on alcohol addiction being held in a distillery. Here are some of the dubious goals of this conference: “New trends in science and society are raising provocative questions about gambling addiction. Will the definition of “pathological gambling” change in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? ...Are government-sponsored programs on gambling disorders using tax dollars wisely? How close are we to establishing a treatment standard for gambling addiction?”
Between 6 million and 8 million Americans are thought to have trouble walking away from the casinos each year, with a full spectrum of consequences, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling [NCRG], an advocacy group… Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, laid out the gaming industry's lines of defense at a 1996 speech before industry bigwigs in Las Vegas. He called problem gambling the "Achilles' heel" of the industry and told the assembled executives that their "enemies" would use the issue in a "crusade to crush our livelihood."
Fahrenkopf said the issue hits home with state legislators, who could be turned against the expansion of gambling or convinced to pass restrictive regulations. (Regulations proposed in other countries include mandatory clocks on casino walls, "time out" periods after a certain amount of money is lost and maximum bet limits.) Meanwhile, media stories of gamblers who had lost everything tugged at the public heartstrings, jeopardizing support. "The growth of our industry is certainly endangered by the issue, and it is not hyperbole to say that the industry's very existence is at stake," Fahrenkopf warned.
The plan he proposed owed a debt to the tobacco industry executives who had spectacularly lost public support just a few years before, when they raised their hands before a 1994 congressional committee and testified that nicotine was not addictive. "Our industry cannot afford to make the mistake made by the tobacco industry," Fahrenkopf said. He told his colleagues that the gaming industry must not only admit that gambling addiction existed, but also lead the discussion of its origins, symptoms and social impacts.
To investigate those origins, the American Gaming Association created the NCRG, and the casinos keep it flush with money. This past September, the NCRG announced $7.6 million in new funding commitments for the next five years, including $2 million from Harrah's, $2 million from MGM Mirage and $1 million from International Game Technology, the largest slot machine manufacturer in the world. Its board of directors includes executives from MGM Mirage, Harrah's and the casino company Boyd Gaming Corp., as well as Judy Patterson, executive director of the American Gaming Association.
I can’t help but wonder if the goal of the conference organizers is to remove the stigma of gambling addiction by removing it from the list of mental disorders and to eliminate government funding for gambling addiction because it isn’t a “real” addiction. A researcher is quoted in “Gambling with science...” as saying: "It's clear their ideal customer is the addict. They have a term, 'player extinction,' which means you lose all your money. They're talking about this as a goal!" A psychologist, “[Henry] Lesieur says that by conservative estimates, 30 percent of the profits from gambling machines come from problem gamblers.”
Furthermore, the brochure states: “The conference is designed to enhance your professional development — whether you’re in the health care sector, the gaming industry, government or academia — by providing the following [partial list]:
• A critical perspective that will help gaming regulators and public officials evaluate policies that address gambling disorders.
• Updates on litigation related to gambling disorders and CLEs [Continuing Legal Education] for attorneys.
No matter what sector you’re in, you’ll also enjoy the following benefits:
• Behind-the-scenes tour of a casino.
• Access to Global Gaming Expo (G2E), the gaming industry’s largest international trade show and conference.
• Discounted rates for combined G2E and NCRG Conference registration.”
Next week, I intend to tell you some of the unique gambling history of Maryland, which was the second state in the country, after Nevada, to allow legalized gambling, in the form of slot machines, in 1947, and which then spent the next 22 years fighting over the negative impacts of those one-armed bandits until the last of them were removed in 1969.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Show Us the Money That Slots Will Bring
by Wayne Goldstein, Montgomery County Civic Federation Immediate Past President.
People are starting to pay close attention to the slots referendum on the November ballot. It is one of the most complicated and most manipulated issues ever to confront this state. I've done some research on the subject and recently testified on five points: 1) Maryland had slots from 1947-1969 but banned them; 2) Gambling revenue was considered recession-proof for decades, but is now down across the nation; 3) Gambling is incredibly addictive to a small percentage of the public who end up providing one-third of the profits to the gambling industry; 4) Maryland has one of the worst records in the nation for helping to treat gambling addiction; 5) Studies claim that gambling costs states 2 to 3 times what it brings in due to violent and economic crime, harm to families, and lost productivity.
This week, I will focus on the economics of gambling. Slots referendum supporters now claim that slots will net at least $660 million a year for the state. Currently, Maryland has the eighth oldest lottery in the nation, which netted it $529 million in the last fiscal year. A study in August 2007 titled: “Slot machines and the Racing Industry: A Review of Existing Data in Maryland and Neighboring States”, claims that Maryland residents spend about $375 million on slots in West Virginia and Delaware, netting $150 million to those states’ treasuries. The author argues that this net revenue can be kept in Maryland if slots are legalized again. However, since this equals only 23% of the $660 million in promised slots revenue, where will the other $510 million come from? Is it expected to come from the residents of other states, from Maryland residents, or diverted from the Maryland lottery? There are numerous stories this year about how Pennsylvania slots are taking much income from Atlantic City casinos. New Jersey will do something about this just as the states that count on Maryland gamblers will want to keep or reclaim their gambling dollars that they might lose to Maryland slots.
Maryland currently ranks 11th in the nation for lottery sales per family, 14th in the nation for lottery revenue, 18th in the nation for all gambling revenue, and 19th in the nation for gambling revenue per resident. Maryland residents spend more per family on lottery sales than Pennsylvania residents, and not much less than Pennsylvanians in overall gambling revenue per resident. While gambling revenue per resident is three to four times higher in Delaware and West Virginia, these states, with their much smaller populations, count on visitors from other states for the bulk of their gambling revenue, just as Nevada has done for 75 years. In 2004, it was reported that more than 70% of Delaware's slots players came from outside Delaware. Marylanders already spend heavily on gambling just from playing the state lottery.
In 2007, Maryland was the richest state in the U.S. based on median family income. Delaware was 15th, Nevada was 19th, Pennsylvania was 23rd, and West Virginia was 50th. Maryland ranked 6th in per capita income in the nation. Delaware was 13th, Nevada was 14th, Pennsylvania was 20th, West Virginia was 50th. In 2005, Maryland ranked 3rd in the nation for income tax rates. Delaware was 13th, Nevada was 44th, Pennsylvania was 17th, and West Virginia was 26th. Maryland ranks 29th in the nation for its median real estate tax rate. Delaware is 47th, Nevada is 43rd, Pennsylvania is 9th, and West Virginia is 46th. Pennsylvania uses much of its gambling profits to give real estate tax rebates to its home-owning seniors. States like Delaware, Nevada and West Virginia, with high levels of gambling revenue per resident, also have some of the lowest income tax or property tax rates, or both. Out-of-state gamblers help make this possible.
A state like Maryland, generating so much wealth from the highest median income, based on one of the highest per capita incomes in the nation, also has among the highest income tax rates in the nation, although its state property taxes are closer to the middle. It was reported in 2004 that a 1998 tax cut: “costs Maryland upward of $500 million each year in lost revenue.” By returning to the 5% state tax rate that existed prior to 1998, up from the current 4.75% rate - a 5.3% increase – Maryland could more reliably receive most of the revenue that slots would allegedly bring. State income taxes could also be made more progressive, in line with a much smaller income tax increase in 2007 for the wealthiest state taxpayers, thus sparing those earning much lower incomes. A progressive tax on income, unlike property taxes, is a tax based on one’s actual ability to pay. When one considers the significant federal income tax and capital gains tax cuts of recent years, most Marylanders would still have an overall lower combined income tax bill as a percentage of income, compared to a decade ago, if the 5% state rate were restored.
Maryland has a competitive, growing economy with the 14th largest gross domestic product (GDP) among states, although it ranks 18th in population. Delaware’s GDP ranks 39th, Pennsylvania’s is 5th in GDP and population (but 20th in per capita income), and West Virginia ranks 40th. Maryland’s poverty rate is 9.2% of the population, compared with Delaware at 9.6%, Pennsylvania at 11.2%, and West Virginia at 16.2%. If claims are true that those in poverty are among the most vulnerable to gambling addiction, perhaps it is also true that those states with higher poverty rates are also most vulnerable to the seemingly easy way to balance budgets with gambling revenue.
These various sets of meaningful numbers show that Maryland is economically stronger and thus different from its neighbors. So why must it mimic its neighbors by chasing after a relatively few gambling dollars that will really only add one more participant to a gambling arms race where ever greater spending will yield ever diminishing returns? Some of our less prosperous neighbors will believe that they need the revenue far more than us and they will work much, much harder to get it and keep it.
Those of us who managed to sit out the inflating and bursting of the dot com and real estate bubbles of the last eight years continue to feel lucky to have avoided yielding to the relentless pressure to do what seemed inevitable in those years based solely on the large number of confident participants. Could we now be in the midst of the last stages of inflating a gambling bubble?
Next week I will look at the debate over gambling addiction and how gambling interests have infiltrated one of the most prestigious institutions in the nation in their bid to rig research results for their benefit.
Note: An edited version of this column is also appearing in the Montgomery Sentinel.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Suburban Hospital's Destructive Expansion Plans Doomed to Fail
By Wayne Goldstein, Montgomery County Civic Federation Immediate Past President. This column is an unedited version of an article submitted to the Sentinel.
On Mondays, every two weeks or so, the Development Review Division of MNCPPC brings together staff from all of its divisions and staff from other county regulatory agencies to meet with recent applicants to provide comments that are meant to assist the applicants in a successful presentation to the Planning Board. This meeting is known as the Development Review Committee, or DRC. On rare occasions, these staff find such significant problems with an applicant's plans that success may be extremely difficult or perhaps impossible to achieve. This past Monday, two such problematic projects were presented to DRC, Clarksburg Town Center (CTC) and Suburban Hospital. The comments of every staff member present were so uniformly critical of the CTC project that it may take a miracle to get it approved. I will be writing about this planning catastrophe later this year. The MNCPPC staff response to Suburban Hospital's plans were not much better, particularly the proposal to permanently close Lincoln Street to the residents of the adjacent Huntington Terrace neighborhood so that the hospital could connect two adjacent blocks that it owns.
In Montgomery County, hospitals, like private schools and day care centers, are allowed to be located in residentially-zoned areas through a process known as the special exception, which is adjudicated and administered by the Board of Appeals with assistance from the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings. The needs and concerns of the immediately adjacent neighborhood are given great weight in the special exception process. Suburban Hospital has refused to work with its neighbors. Instead, it has engaged in a crude, disingenuous and ineffective propagandistic public relations campaign since 2002 to try to expand the way it wants to, not the way it needs to. This hospital supported a surreptitious effort in 2003 to eliminate the longstanding special exception process for hospitals. It has also sought to create the illusion of support from a larger "community" that stretched far beyond Huntington Terrace. Here are some examples of this PR effort:
"Winter 2004 - President’s Message: … A proposed amendment would address the concerns of hospitals like Suburban, which has lived in a residential neighborhood for more than 60 years, while serving an entire county. The proposed zoning process adjustments would accelerate the now cumbersome regulatory process that results in delays of several years before hospitals are able to make essential modifications to their campuses.
Summer 2006: "To ensure we receive important feedback from our many stakeholders, we assembled a Community Panel for a Healthy Future. This key advisory board includes 25 people who represent the broad interests of our growing and diverse Montgomery County community — neighborhood associations, civic and community organizations, emergency responders, business leaders, hospital patients, staff, physicians and volunteers. Additionally, we have initiated discussions with [MNCPPC] and other county officials. Through the Community Panel, we have discussed our goals and exchanged ideas in an open and transparent process. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our Community Panel, our immediate neighbors, and state and county officials as we finalize plans for an enhanced Suburban Hospital."
Fall 2006: "… The web site also contains a section where you can register your support of our enhancement and modernization plans. It is extremely important for all those served by Suburban Hospital to take a few moments and register as a supporter today. In just a few short weeks, close to 400 people have signed up as supporters, and more continue to do so each day. As we prepare to bring our plans before Maryland state health officials and Montgomery County Park and Planning, it will be critical that we demonstrate the strong support that exists for Suburban from residents throughout the county."
Winter 2006: "Hospital Enhancement Plans Garner Widespread Community Support - This fall was a busy time for Suburban Hospital and our efforts to build strong and widespread community support for the enhancement and modernization of our hospital and campus."
Summer 2007: "President's Message - … As we prepare to file our plans with state and county officials later this summer, I am buoyed by the tremendous outpouring of support we have received from community residents… More than 5,000 area residents have signed bright yellow cards of support for the hospital enhancement project."
Summer 2008: "The Momentum is Building: Campus Enhancement Plans Advance - Community leaders are voicing broad support as Suburban Hospital unveils plans for our first major clinical enhancement program in 30 years —and the changes are good news for you! …Leaders in our community understand how important our enhancement is, too… TAKE ACTION. Please let county officials know that you support the revitalization of Suburban Hospital by contacting them today."
This 2008 issue also includes a postcard addressed to the Montgomery County Council with the following message: "As a resident of Montgomery County, I am writing to urge you to support Suburban hospital's campus enhancement plans, including the abandonment of one block of Lincoln Street that will make the project possible..."
The following news account excerpts show this effort for the sham that it is: June 17, 2007 Gazette news account: "… For residents in the Huntington Terrace neighborhood just west of the hospital's Old Georgetown Road campus, the expansion could mean more noise, reduced light from shadows cast by taller buildings and the potential for more traffic. "It's a community hospital. It's in a neighborhood. It wants to be a really big regional hospital in a community footprint," said Lesley Hildebrand… who lives nearby. "I think they're trying to shoehorn their way on top of us. Some people would say they're getting too big for their britches."
"Suburban's next move is to petition Montgomery County this summer to close one block of Lincoln Street, which bisects the property. If that is approved, the hospital will begin to outline to county regulators details of its expansion, which neighbors say would nearly double the size of the facility. Eventually, the matter will be turned over to a hearing examiner and reviewed by the county Board of Appeals.
"… Neighbors, who said their relations with the hospital under Gragnolati's predecessor were friendlier, have begun alerting local officials about their concerns and are digging in for a long fight. "They are trying to destabilize the neighborhood," said Huntington Terrace Citizens Association President Lorraine Driscoll. The association voted twice last month to oppose the hospital's plans. Driscoll said Suburban could accomplish its modernization without closing Lincoln Street or tearing down houses that separate the hospital from the neighborhood.
"… Gragnolati pointed to a panel of area residents that the hospital used to vet possible expansion plans, and Borenstein-Levy said the hospital has received about 5,000 expressions of support. The panel suggested that the hospital put extra parking next to Old Georgetown Road rather than close to the neighbors. It appears that the hospital has dropped plans for below-ground parking, which many of the neighbors had endorsed.
"Bob Deans, a board member of the Huntington Terrace Citizens Association, said the panel was stacked against the neighborhood. The only representative from Huntington Terrace, the hospital's closest neighbors, eventually quit because the panel seemed to be a "very cynical public relations charade," Deans said. Some residents also accused the hospital of trying to muzzle neighbors by offering $25,000 bonus payments to homeowners willing to sell and keep mum in any fight over expansion. A hospital spokeswoman said it would not be a deal breaker if a homeowner declined to remain silent.
"Gragnolati has also tried to persuade the county to limit neighborhoods' clout by changing the way hospital construction projects are reviewed. He has proposed limiting the significance that regulators could attach to neighbors' viewpoints. That effort has been watched carefully by civic organizations as well as the county's three other hospitals that are in residential neighborhoods."
February 13, 2008 Washington Post news account "… The hospital will tear down 24 homes that it owns in the surrounding neighborhood to make room for the new construction… The county must approve the hospital’s request to close a block of Lincoln Street in the neighborhood, in order for the expansion to go forward. The road splits the two blocks of Old Georgetown Road that would encompass the hospital’s new, larger campus. Many, but not all, of the hospital’s Huntington Terrace neighbors have rallied against closing any part of Lincoln Street, saying it is the neighborhood’s central artery. Hospital officials say the road closure is the only way to unify the new and old segments of the campus… ‘‘This is the same plan that Suburban has been trying to steam roll the community with for more than three years now,” said Bob Deans, Huntington Terrace Neighborhood Association spokesman. The hospital ‘‘has what it needs for undeveloped property” to build on and shouldn’t push for closing Lincoln Street, Deans said."
When I look at the drawing of the hospital's proposed plan for expansion in its latest piece of self-serving PR known as "New Directions", I see buildings set back far from streets, large open areas for driveways, and a large aboveground parking structure. Suburban Hospital appears to want to build a sprawling, suburban-style campus in an urbanizing area near downtown Bethesda where land is very expensive. By putting most of the parking underground and by clustering buildings close to Old Georgetown Road, the hospital could easily reduce its footprint by 50%. There is no need to destroy the neighborhood by demolishing any of the houses that the hospital owns or by closing Lincoln Street.
Suburban should permanently rent or sell the 24 houses it owns for workforce housing for its nurses and its other hospital workers. All of us should be speaking out in support of Huntington Terrace, opposing the closing of Lincoln Street, and condemning Suburban for its refusal to work transparently and in good faith with its real neighbors. I expect that the Board of Appeals will reject Suburban's plans and direct the hospital to listen to its neighbors, who have never opposed the hospital's need to expand, just an expansion that threatened the survival of their community.
