Anacostia River Targeted For Restoration
Supporting ongoing efforts to clean up one of the nation’s most polluted rivers , EPA and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have announced that the Anacostia River is selected as one of eight urban river restoration pilot projects.
. The pilots are part of the Urban Rivers Restoration Initiative, designed to promote urban river cleanup and restoration nationwide through the collaborative efforts of these two federal agencies.
The Anacostia River which flows through the District of Columbia and Maryland is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, heavy metals, and raw sewage discharges from combined sewer overflows (CSOs). Pollution from CSOs pose threats to human health and wildlife, fish habitat, and also limits recreational fishing.
This project, selected through a competitive process, involves plans to restore wetlands; expand forest coverage; redevelop underused brownfields properties, and expand private and public stakeholder involvement.
Ongoing partnerships and initiatives on the Anacostia include:
(1) efforts to develop a plan for the revitalization of the river’s waterfront communities and the creation of a riverwalk tying them together with the rest of the District;
(2) a proposed $1.3 billion plan to update the area’s combined sewer system and reduce the volume of combined sewer overflows entering the Anacostia by 98 percent;
(3) a unique partnership by 25 public and private volunteer stakeholders including EPA to address the wide-spread problem of toxins in the sediment of the Anacostia Watershed and the impacts on human and aquatic health.
In July 2002, EPA and USACE entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which the two agencies agreed to designate several similar pilot projects over the following year to coordinate the planning and execution of urban river cleanup and restoration.
In partnership with state and local governments, tribal authorities and private organizations, the projects will focus on water quality improvement, cleanup of contaminated sediments and human and animal habitat restoration.
