by David Jonas Bardin Ten years ago, when I served on its board of directors, DC Water started focusing on aging, gravity-flow sanitary sewers laid in beds of creeks. DC Water gave sewers in Soapstone Creek a high priority. To inspect those sewers and assess their condition, DC Water turned to a pair of engineering […]
Opinion: Sewer rehab project is an opportunity for a badly-needed Soapstone stream restoration
by Marlene Berlin We’ve been warned in the past that the Soapstone Valley Trail is endangered due to steady erosion of the stream banks. The erosion accelerates whenever we have a major storm event, and the storms have not decreased in frequency or impact since that warning in 2014. Take last Tuesday’s powerful deluge, so […]
Neighbors bring many questions to June 26th Soapstone sewer rehab meeting, leave with more
by Marlene Berlin At the June 26th public meeting on a project that would address the century-old sewer system running through the Soapstone Valley, no one challenged the need for relining the pipes and repairing manholes. DC Water’s presentation made it clear that the pipes and manhole covers, now more than 110 years old, have […]
Meet the volunteer leader keeping the Soapstone Trail walkable and enjoyable
by Marlene Berlin If you’ve come across volunteers working on the Soapstone Valley Trail in the past year, you’ve run into JoAnn Shaner’s crew. Shaner has been the Soapstone Trail supervisor for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club since mid-2018. (PATC maintains many of our trails and is currently rebuilding a footbridge on the Melvin Hazen […]
Steam vs. UV: There may be an alternative to the pipe-lining methods DC Water plans for Soapstone sewers
by Marlene Berlin At the public meeting this Wednesday on the Soapstone Valley sewer rehabilitation project, at least one member of the community will be asking the National Park Service and DC Water if the work has to be so invasive. As described on page 6 of Appendix E, Statement of Findings: Approximately 6,100 [linear […]
ANC 3F’s parks committee has a lot of questions about the Soapstone sewer project
by Marlene Berlin A deteriorating, 110-year-old sewer system runs through the Soapstone Valley. The National Park Service and DC Water have released the environmental assessment of DC Water’s preferred plan to rehabilitate the system. The federal and city agency will hold a public meeting on this subject June 26th at the Forest Hills of DC […]
You have until August 2 to comment on a Soapstone Valley sewer project that will keep out park users for up to 4 years
The National Park Service has released the environmental assessment of DC Water’s plans for rehabilitating the century-old sewer system in Soapstone Valley. This sets in motion a 59-day public comment period on work that will keep Soapstone users out of the park for as many as four years. NPS has scheduled a public meeting on […]
DC Water and NPS weeks from revealing plans for 110-year-old Soapstone sewers
by David Jonas Bardin DC Water came to Tuesday night’s ANC 3F meeting to let us know they’re getting closer to revealing the latest plan to address Soapstone Valley’s 110-year-old sanitary sewer system. The environmental assessment is to be issued in the next month or so for public comments. DC Water engineer Louis Arguello spoke […]
Why there are tree stumps where Linnean Avenue dead ends near the Soapstone Valley Trail
by Marlene Berlin Two lots are being developed by the owner Sassan Kimiavi, just south of the 4400 block of Linnean Avenue beyond the dead end. Locations are approximate. Tree stumps can be seen from the “social” trail that leads from the dead end Street to Soapstone Valley Trail. John Anderson of DDOT’s Urban Forestry […]
Proposals to remove or repair century-old Soapstone sewers still under review
by Marlene Berlin It’s been almost a year since our last update on the century-old sewers running through Soapstone Valley, and almost six years since DC Water and the National Park Service revealed plans to do something about them. So first, a recap: Both the National Park Service and DC Water worry the aging sewer […]