DC Water is planning to begin the work of rehabilitating Soapstone Valley’s century-old sewer pipes in mid-summer, according to the legislative director for Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh.
Michael Porcello mentioned the summer start date in a January 7th email to this reporter, ANC 3F commissioners, and Marjorie Share, a Forest Hills neighbor who documented research on toxic emissions from the steam cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) method of relining the sewage lines. DC Water had previously targeted a winter 2021-2022 start date.
“[S]everal neighbors have reached out to our office on this particular issue, and we had been working over the holiday with DC Water to get clarity on their plans for this work in Soapstone Valley,” Porcello wrote. “We’ve also encouraged them to pause that work, at least temporarily, both until we can be sure the technology used is safe for residents and project staff, and to provide time to meet directly with the community to discuss the project and this particular technology.”
Last week, Porcello said in the email, DC Water informed Cheh’s office that the agency would not move forward until “mid-summer at the earliest.” More community meetings would be scheduled to discuss the concerns raised about the project. And, DC Water told Porcello that it has been in contact with the DC Department of Energy and the Environment [DOEE], “our local experts on pollution issues,” about the sewer rehabilitation technology.
DOEE’s air quality permitting chief, Stephen Ours, said the agency is requiring DC Water to apply for a “Chapter 2” air quality permit to “construct/operate a stationary source of air pollutants” if it decides to proceed with the steam CIPP method.
“We expect that this project would be subject to a minor source permit,” Ours told Forest Hill Connection in an email. Minor sources include “gas stations, dry cleaners, auto body shops, sites using generators, and small printing facilities.” And DC Water, he said, must also follow federal regulations under the Clean Air Act.
Air pollutants produced by the steam method of curing the resin used to reline the pipes were not included in the environmental assessment approved by the National Park Service last year. Marjorie Share, in a December 6th Forest Hills Connection op-ed, wrote that some states have acted to ban or more stringently regulate this technology. During a community meeting with DC Water the following day, residents had many questions and concerns about how the agency was going to manage and monitor the air pollution. DC Water provided no clear answers.
After Share’s post in Forest Hills Connection, DC Water requested two follow-up virtual meetings, one with me on December 8th and one with both Marjorie Share and me on December 14th. During the first, Will Elledge, a DC Water project and design manager, asked me what would make the community feel comfortable with this project. I replied that DC Water needed to present a plan of how they would manage and monitor the air pollution, hire an independent inspector, and have a clear shutdown process. Elledge made no commitments.
During the December 14th meeting, Elledge said DC Water was rethinking the CIPP technology. When asked about construction status, he mentioned that they were in the process of getting permits from the National Park Service and DOEE.
In the first week of January, Elledge and DOEE responded to our queries about what permits were required and still outstanding with a list that did not include an air quality permit. In response to our follow up query about DOEE’s requirement, Elledge responded that he would know better in February about its impact on the project.
Gloria Nickels says
Thank you, to everyone who has worked to highlight the shortcomings of this plan and to ask for more transparency.
I have been thinking about the general wisdom of this project as it has been outlined so far. When I first heard about it, I assumed DC Water was planning new, large cast iron pipes to replace the crumbling old pipe, full of tree roots. I was surprised at the proposal of relining the old pipes….. not a repair “for the ages”….but a very temporary fix ( ten years?) Actually, I predict the relining will fail sooner and perhaps leak right away due to flaws that are inevitable with such a process on pipes that are so old and damaged. Are the old pipes even large enough for the needs of the area which of course has grown so much over the last 100 years, which is when the pipes were first installed?
Marjorie Share says
The response to the FHC articles on the Soapstone Project has been tremendous. And the comments themselves continue to be impressive and inspiring.
Many in the Community are increasingly engaged–the ANC is proceeding; lawyers are documenting challenges; neighbors are researching incidents in other states; apartment dwellers are contacting owners and management; national environmental groups have stepped forward; and much more.
Our hope remains that this will be win-win: DC Water will be a justifiably proud national leader and the health of our community and Soapstone Park will be protected.
Michael Chorost says
Thank you, Marjorie, for your outstanding work. I’m grateful to you for pursuing this issue and reporting on it with clarity and thoroughness.
Green Eyeshades says
Wow. Another win for local citizen organizing and for amazing hyper-local journalism!
DC Water’s spokesperson(s) are clearly in over their head, because they keep lying and deceiving, either deliberately or by omission. The key new fact in this post is here:
“DOEE’s air quality permitting chief, Stephen Ours, said the agency is requiring DC Water to apply for a ‘Chapter 2’ air quality permit to ‘construct/operate a stationary source of air pollutants’ if it decides to proceed with the steam CIPP method.”
It will be essential to pinpoint the exact date when DOEE imposed that requirement on DC Water. If that requirement is in place today, January 10th, when was DC Water informed of that requirement?
The main post also says this:
“In the first week of January, Elledge and DOEE responded to our queries about what permits were required and still outstanding with a list that did not include an air quality permit.”
In other words, between January 3 (Monday) and today (Monday), BOTH DC Water’s spokesperson AND a DOEE spokesperson concealed or omitted the requirement of an air quality permit which DOEE now admits has been imposed on the project.
How can we trust anything DC agencies say about this project in the light of such blatant deception?
How can we even trust the supposed promise that “the agency is delaying the work until at least mid-summer”?
Will other projects in DC start using “the steam CIPP method” while the Soapstone project is delayed?
Gloria Nickels says
All good points, Green Eyeshades. Would seem to me that the CIPP method should not be used ANYWHERE.
I would like to add that that the plastic particulate matter that is airborne and left in the water itself and in the flora of the woods will make it’s way through Rock Creek into the Potomac and on into the Chesapeake Bay. I have been under the impression for some time that plastic particulate matter in our waterways and in the bay, and ultimately in our oceans is one of the most pressing and urgent environmental issues facing the world today. I would think the steam CIPP method would be harmful in any application. anywhere.