Community input made a difference in the Soapstone sewer project

by Marlene Berlin

They really do hear us.

On February 29th, DC Water CEO and General Manager David Gadis testified at the agency’s annual performance oversight hearing. His prepared remarks, submitted to the DC Council Committee on Transportation and the Environment, included the Soapstone Valley sewer relining project.

“We have worked hand in hand with the community, providing regular communications and addressing their concerns,” Gadis said. “For instance, I can tell you today that we are now using UV technology for the remaining portion of sewer lining work under this project, at the request of the community.”

The community around the Soapstone Valley, including ANC 3F commissioners, raised its voice in support of ultraviolet cured-in-place piping, also known as UV curing, beginning in June 2019. The benefits seemed clear: UV would leave a smaller environmental footprint, both in terms of air quality, and in eliminating the need for heavy equipment such as boiler trucks required for steam or hot water curing.

At the time, Inland Pipe Rehabilitation (IPR), the lead contractor DC Water selected for the project, did not have the capacity to do UV, although this technology had an 85 percent penetration rate in Europe and other contractors in the U.S. were using it. But it does now. In February 2022, IPR purchased a UV company from Granite Construction.

In March 2022, the Soapstone project began. In response to community concerns about steam curing emissions, DC Water selected the hot water method, and said it would use VOC- and styrene-free resin liners. The lining process, using this technique, was nearly complete when DC Water announced at the February ANC 3F meeting that it would be using UV for the last three remaining segments of the sewer relining project behind Park Van Ness (Shot 10 in the image below), Van Ness East, and Lenore Lane.

UV will be used to curing the resin pipe lining at these three locations. (Click the image to view a larger version)

ANC 3F Commissioner Mitch Baer also testified at the February 29th DC Water oversight hearing.

“All similar projects should employ the UV curing process,” he said. “DC Water should maintain its outreach, notification and communication programs and its air monitoring program for these projects. Community outreach and education are critical; as is the minimization of disruption in the communities, when possible.”

And there will be other sewer rehabilitation projects in or adjacent to parkland. According to the DC Water website, these Northwest DC sewers will be tackled in the next year or two:

• Fenwick Branch, with construction to start in November 2024.
• Pinehurst Branch, with design and construction still to be determined.
• Glover-Archbold Park, with construction to start winter 2026.

Will their communities demand UV?