At the ANC 3F meeting in January, commissioners passed a resolution urging Mayor Bowser and the National Park Service to pause permits for the project, and requested that the various agencies involved bring in a third-party expert to review the environmental and human health impacts of DC Water’s chosen method of relining the 110-year-old sewer pipes.
DC Water is pressing on. Last Friday, the agency said in a community outreach email that the project’s contractors were beginning “site visits to complete survey work, to stake out the Limits of Disturbance (LOD), and tag trees for removal, trimming or protection.” This phase, the email said, would be complete around the end of this month. Then, once the Park Service and the DC government issue the permits, construction is to begin.
The email did not mention ANC 3F’s resolution, but did announce a virtual community meeting on the project this Thursday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. Register at dcwater.com/soapstone to participate on Microsoft Teams. Or call 202-753-6714 and enter ID code 274 001 767# to listen in on the phone.
We also encourage you to sign up for DC Water’s Soapstone updates by emailing [email protected].
And here’s DC Water’s community update, sent Friday, February 11th:
This notice provides information about upcoming Soapstone Valley Park Sewer Rehabilitation project construction within the park.
After years of intensive planning, design, permitting and coordination, this project is ready to begin construction to address the aging sewer pipes, protect and repair other critical infrastructure, and deliver the co-benefits of this project to the park, the National Park Service (NPS), and the larger community. The project will address aging and defective sewer pipes extending from Albemarle Street NW to Broad Branch Road NW, preventing further sewer failures and improving water quality in the park and in Rock Creek.
Minimizing tree removal has been a driving force in the design of this project, but some trees must be removed primarily to repair a large stormwater outfall, protect exposed sewers and manholes within the stream and complete associated stream restoration. These trees will be replaced with native species of trees as part of the project.
Beginning on Friday, February 11, 2022 DC Water contractors will begin site visits to complete survey work, to stake out the Limits of Disturbance (LOD), and tag trees for removal, trimming or protection. This initial task will not require heavy equipment and is expected to be complete by February 28, 2022. Following this task, construction activities will begin after the necessary permits for this project are issued by the National Park Service and the District of Columbia
government. Normal construction hours are from 7am to 7pm Mon- Sat. At times, night work and Sunday work will be necessary.
Upcoming Meeting
Our project team will be hosting a Virtual Public Meeting on February 17, 2022 at 6:30 pm via Microsoft Teams to discuss:
● Project Needs and Benefits
● Project Planning and Alternative Analysis
● Environmental Review and Permitting
● Procurement
● Where We are Now
Meeting invite will follow this notice
For More Information
24/7 Project Hotline: 202-301-8058
Project Email: [email protected]
Project Webpage: dcwater.com/projects/soapstone_sewer
David Jonas Bardin says
What is FHC*s source for RED ARROWs, identified as “Comb. STM/Wastewater”?
My understanding is that DCW has NO combined sewers in or near Soapstone.
FHC says
The map was included in the Feb. 11 notice and is also on DC Water’s Soapstone project page: https://dcwater.com/projects/soapstone_sewer
Green Eyeshades says
Mr. Bardin, do you think the beginning of this DCist article is correct when it implies over and over that the E. coli pollution in the Soapstone Valley is from the sanitary sewer?
The story begins this way:
“Soapstone Valley, home to one of the most polluted tributaries in Rock Creek Park, is about to get a major sewer upgrade to keep the 100-year-old pipes from leaking into the stream. The upgrade has been in the works for years, and is the first of several major projects to shore up antiquated sewers on National Park lands in the District. But as the project is about to get started, neighbors are fighting it — concerned about the environmental and health impacts, including loss of trees and the toxic chemicals that will be used to repair pipes.
“Soapstone Valley meanders from Connecticut Ave. in Upper Northwest D.C., down to Broad Branch, near its confluence with Rock Creek. The trail through the valley is dotted with rusted old manholes, marked with the word ‘sewer.’ If you get close, you can hear — and smell — the sewage line running under the park.
” ‘This is the epitome of why this project needs to be done,’ says DC Water engineer William Elledge, approaching an exposed sewer pipe that spans the creek. ‘This was all buried when it was originally constructed.’
“A century ago, the sewer pipe where Elledge stands crossed under the creek — now due to erosion, it’s above the creek, with creek water flowing under the pipe.
” ‘What that’s a sign of is that the entire stretch is about to be completely undermined,’ says Elledge.” [snip]
A little further down, the story returns to the theme that human sewage could be polluting Soapstone Creek:
“In every section of sewer examined — except for two that had been previously lined — the cameras showed cracks, fractures, holes, leaks or roots growing into the pipe.” [snip]
And, again: ” ‘Just in the last decade, we’ve had a handful of failures and some of those have been leaks where that sewage has actually been getting into the stream,’ says Elledge. ‘It’s only a matter of time before there’s an even more colossal failure.’ “
FHC says
Thinking back to 2015 when there was sewer seepage in Soapstone but DC Water was also warning about high E. coli levels upstream. A spokesman said at the time that wildlife and pet waste could account for that.
https://www.foresthillsconnection.com/news/high-e-coli-readings-in-soapstone-also-upstream-from-sewer-leak/
Green Eyeshades says
Exactly! The Soapstone Valley would be highly polluted with E. coli whether or not there was a sanitary sewer running through it, because the Soapstone Valley is a giant stormwater runoff drain.
Alex S. says
It’s certainly possible. What’s strange is that E. coli levels are high even if we’ve had minimal rain to wash pollutants into the stream. Marchant Wentworth suggests that these sanitary sewers are leaking- perhaps at low levels. His March 2021 report “The Leaking Sewers of Rock Creek” is online.
What I find curious is that even Melvin Hazen Run has high levels of E.coli even though a sanitary sewer line is not buried underneath most of the stream and there’s only one crossing- near its confluence with Rock Creek. Is the stream quality analysis conducted above or below the crossing? I wonder if that would make a difference in the readings. If the E. coli readings were lower above the single crossing, that would strongly suggest a leak.
Green Eyeshades says
The term “wastewater” on that map might not be what we have been calling “sewer” for the past five years. The map shows the sewer as “sanitary” in green.
There seem to be many locations — outside the Soapstone Ravine — where the “storm” pipes intersect with the green “sanitary” pipes. There appears to be only one location INSIDE SOAPSTONE where a “storm” line intersects directly with a “sanitary” line. That would be at the bottom of 29th/Audobon below Audubon.
Green Eyeshades says
DC Water and DOEE made sure to cram loads of propaganda into the top of today’s DCist story:
https://dcist.com/story/22/02/17/soapstone-creek-sewer-rehab-neighbors-worried/
But at least these crucial paragraphs were included later on:
“After pushback from neighbors in Forest Hills, DC Water announced in January they’re switching to a different type of CIPP – rather than using steam to cure the plastic pipes, as they originally planned, they’ll use hot water. They say because of this change the air pollution Whelton has documented won’t be an issue. And water pollution will be taken care of at DC Water’s Blue Plains sewage treatment plant.
“But [Purdue Univ. Prof.] Whelton says water-cured CIPP can still cause air pollution, as hot water, laden with toxic chemicals, volatilizes inside sewer pipes. And neighbors still aren’t satisfied the technology is safe.
” ‘We’re saying time out, people,’ says Dipa Mehta, the advisory neighborhood commissioner for the area. ‘There is no way to reverse the irreparable harm that would occur by forging ahead with this technology.’
“The local ANC passed a resolution in January calling on DC Water to hit pause on the project. This week, the ANC passed an emergency resolution, asking Councilmember Mary Cheh (Ward 3) to secure a stop-work order to keep the project from moving forward.
“Cheh wrote a letter to the director of the District Department of Energy and Environment in January, echoing residents’ qualms about the project. Professor Whelton’s findings about CIPP pollution are ‘deeply concerning,’ Cheh wrote, ‘especially since DC Water intends to use this technology not just in Soapstone Valley, but across the District.’ She asked whether it would be prudent to conduct a more thorough assessment of the various CIPP technologies before proceeding.
“Mehta says nobody is questioning the need for the sewer rehabilitation, and the ANC is not asking for a years-long delay. But, she says, DC Water has not fully analyzed the alternatives — particularly UV-cured CIPP, which does not create the same level of pollution.” [snip]
Green Eyeshades says
The DCist story posted yesterday was updated at 11:47 am this morning, and it’s not good news. DCist’s editor says their update was to add details about a letter dated yesterday that DOEE sent to Councilmember Mary Cheh.
Here are what seem to me to be the two new paragraphs (the first ‘graf below is from the original story and is included to show context):
“Cheh wrote a letter to the director of the District Department of Energy and Environment in January, echoing residents’ qualms about the project. Professor Whelton’s findings about CIPP pollution are ‘deeply concerning,’ Cheh wrote, ‘especially since DC Water intends to use this technology not just in Soapstone Valley, but across the District.’ She asked whether it would be prudent to have a third party conduct a more thorough environmental assessment of the various CIPP technologies before proceeding.
“Richard Jackson, senior deputy director of DOEE, wrote back to Cheh on Feb. 17. Jackson said the agency had completed a review of the water pollution impacts of CIPP, and found the Soapstone project will have ‘minimal or no impact on surface and groundwater.’ In terms of air pollution, Jackson wrote, DOEE is still reviewing the impact that the hot-water cured process will have. Preliminarily, he said, it appears the project may not need an air quality permit due to its expected lower emissions compared to steam-cure, which would have required a permit.
“Jackson also said the environmental assessment appears to have been prepared in accordance with federal law, and that while DOEE had been consulted multiple times over the years on the assessment, the agency has ‘no regulatory oversight role to play in that process, nor authority to require a second assessment under District law.’ “