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Montgomery College's decision to drain a storm-water management pond for a construction project without removing the fish and wildlife that inhabited it has angered many students and faculty on the Rockville campus.

"It's disgusting," said Evin Eldridge, 20, who is to graduate from Montgomery College in the fall. "The most ironic thing is this is going to be a biology center."

A new, roughly $60 million science center is being built on the Rockville campus. The planned four-story building will house the biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and geosciences departments. The building will feature a greenhouse and a rooftop observatory and is expected to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification for its energy-saving and environmental features.

The pond was to be drained as part of the construction. As of Tuesday, most of the water had been removed.

Fish that were in the pond either were pumped out into the stream or scooped up with other debris, said college spokesman Brett Eaton.

That upset many faculty members and students, who said the work showed a callous disregard for the animals that lived in the man-made pond. More than 50 people were present at a student Senate forum Thursday when the topic was raised, but just four spoke against it.

Eldridge had hoped the outcry would cause the college to reconsider its position and capture the mosquito fish and koi, a variety of carp, and turtles, frogs and other wildlife that inhabit the pond and relocate them to other ponds.

College administrators often tout the importance of social responsibility, but were not living up to it themselves, Eldridge said.

The construction plan should have included the cost of moving the animals and fish, said Debra Anderson, department chairwoman of the Gudelsky Institute for Technical Education at the college.

College officials estimated the cost of relocating the fish and wildlife at $20,000, but did not believe it would be the best use of funds because the wildlife have lived in a polluted environment and could contaminate other ponds with diseases they might carry, college officials said.

"Montgomery College understands the emotions generated by wildlife inhabiting our campuses," Eaton said.

The new science center is needed to meet the number of students who want to take classes in science, math and engineering, he said. Construction of the building is expected to be completed in 2011.

As part of the project, a new storm-water management pond will be built that will improve the landscaping and do a better job of filtering out the debris, oil and other pollutants that run off the college's parking lot into the pond before entering a stream, Eaton said, adding that wildlife was likely to return.

Moving the koi and mosquito fish to other ponds, even if they survived the move, would be a bad idea because they could have a detrimental environmental impact on their new home, said Rebecca Thomas, an assistant professor in the biology department.

"Koi are an invasive species," she said.

Because koi tear up the plants at the bottom of ponds when they feed, they make those ponds uninhabitable to many other fish, Thomas said.

"Koi end up destroying other fish populations," she added. "In the end, [moving them] could cause more harm."