Conservation advocates and community leaders have mixed feelings about a potential deal for Baltimore County and the state to buy a 190-acre farm on Back River.

As I reported in The Baltimore Sun today, county and state officials say they're considering teaming up to preserve it from development, even though its ecological value was called "mediocre" by the land acquisition chief for the Department of Natural Resources. The deal is still in negotiation, and no one would say what the price might be.  Funds for buying open-space are tight now because of the slumping real estate market.

Turns out, if the deal goes through, this would be the third, rather than the second, piece of land in the Edgemere area that Baltimore County has bought from developer Mark C. Sapperstein. Late last year, according to a report in The Dundalk Eagle, the county paid $839,000 for 21 wooded acres on North Point Road - the second half of what's known as the Karll Trust property.  The county bought the other half the year before, paying $900,000, above the appraised value.

The Eagle story by Randy Leonard reports that the tract, bought by the county for recreational use, has a history of contamination.  Tests of various spots found elevated levels of arsenic in the soil, plus chromium, mercury, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.  The county's recreation and parks chief was quoted in the article saying he was not concerned by the levels of contaminants found.

The Bauer's Farm property, which Sapperstein is considering selling now, also had a patch of contaminated soil.  But Sapperstein had it cleaned up - and the Maryland Department of the Environment has given the tract a clean bill of health.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)