Settlement Promises Less Raw Sewage in DC Waters

WASHINGTON, DC, June 25, 2003 (ENS) - During heavy rains, raw human sewage overflows into the rivers surrounding the nation's capital from the city's antiquated combined sewer system, which carries sewage and storm water in the same pipes. A legal settlement filed today in federal court is aimed at reducing this contaminated flow.

The settlement in a lawsuit brought by five environmental and community organizations against the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority will require approval from U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan.

Under terms of the settlement, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) will adopt controls to curb combined sewer overflows to the Anacostia River, the Potomac River, and Rock Creek.

Warning sign posted by the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (Photos courtesy DCWASA)

Measures required by the settlement are expected to cut sewer overflows by about 40 percent over the next five years. Settlement talks over a long term plan to address the remaining overflows are still underway.

The consent decree also provides for DCWASA to fund two million dollars in greening projects along the Anacostia River to cleanse polluted stormwater runoff from streets, industrial yards, and businesses.

"This settlement is a big step in the right direction," said David Baron, an Earthjustice attorney who represented the five plaintiff groups. “It's a vital step toward the goal of making DC's waters safe for swimming and fishing."

"Each of the steps outlined in the consent decree represents concrete action that DCWASA will take now to improve water quality in the DC region," said Norman Dean, executive director of Friends of the Earth, one of the plaintiffs. "WASA won't have to wait for federal funding to begin improve water quality, but can start immediately."

The lawsuit, filed three years ago by Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, Anacostia Watershed Society, the Kingman Park Civic Association, and the American Canoe Association, charged that the combined sewage overflows violate permits issued under the federal Clean Water Act and DC law.

Since then the groups have been engaged in lengthy settlement discussions with the Water and Sewage Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency, which has since filed its own enforcement suit against DCWASA.

"We worked closely with WASA in structuring this five year plan for reducing pollution by 40 percent," said Robert Boone of the Anacostia Watershed Society. "We are pleased to develop a cooperative solution with WASA to promote clean water. We urge EPA to move quickly to finalize action on WASA's longer term plan to address remaining overflows to the Anacostia."

DCWASA is demonstrating a floating end of pipe netting system at a combined sewer overflow outfall on the Anacostia River to remove solids and floatables from overflows. The system has been operational since April 2000.

The District's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires the preparation of a Long-Term Control Plan with a schedule to control combined sewer overflow discharges to area waterways.

The planning effort behind the Long-Term Control Plan began in 1998 and a draft of the plan was made available to the public and submitted to the EPA and the District Department of Health in June 2001. The final plan, written to incorporate public comments, is now available for public review.

To read an executive summary of the Long-Term Control Plan, log onto: http://www.dcwasa.com/education/css/Executive%20Summary.pdf