When Army officials and community leaders break ground tomorrow on a $3 billion project to overhaul military housing at Fort Meade, not everyone will be celebrating.

Members of the post's Restoration Advisory Board are furious that officials at the Anne Arundel County post did not share key environmental studies with them before transferring the land to a private developer, Rhode Island-based Picerne Real Estate Group.

In September, Picerne is scheduled to begin building the first of about 3,000 houses to replace run-down soldiers' quarters off Rockenbach Road, where lead paint and asbestos have been problems for years.

The restoration board was established to monitor the Army's cleanup at Fort Meade after the post landed on the Environmental Protection Agency's list of the nation's hazardous sites in 1998. Since then, its members - representatives from the EPA, Maryland Department of the Environment, county Health Department and area residents - have met regularly.

"How do you do an environmental assessment and not give it to the EPA?" said board Chairwoman Zoe Draughon, who lives across from Fort Meade.

She added: "We don't necessarily want to stop them from building, but we want to make sure it's done right."

Col. Michael Stewart, Fort Meade garrison commander, declined yesterday to release the documents to The Sun. In an interview this week, he said he made the decision not to make public the suitability document.

"I said, 'Move forward with the project,'" he said. "I have the discretion not to make it available before the transfer."

Since 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act has required an environmental assessment of soil, water quality and traffic reviews before any construction project begins on federal land. The study is released to the public, which has a chance to comment.

The Army also must complete a study showing a property is environmentally sound before it transfers land. Under Army regulations, sharing the suitability study with the public is "recommended but not required."

The restoration board and the Army have clashed before, with regulators levying fines for contamination. But relations had improved, and two years ago, the board won the Army's Environmental Award for its cleanup efforts.