Plans for extensive sewer rehab also explained at Tuesday meeting
Warning signs have been removed from the Soapstone trailhead on Albemarle and near the site of a sewer leak near the east end of Audubon Terrace. They shouldn’t have been.
DC Water photo from its slide presentation on July 28th.
On Tuesday, July 28th, ANC 3F hosted a special meeting for DC Water (watch the video). The agency’s representatives explained the actions they have taken to repair a leaking sewer pipe which was one source of heightened E. coli levels in Soapstone Creek. They are still investigating the cause of high E. coli levels found upstream from the leak, however. They’re doing DNA tests to determine whether the cause is human or animal, and had no answers as of Tuesday. They were asked about the safety of the water as the warning signs had been removed. William Elledge of DC Water said the signs should not have been taken down.
DC Water spent the rest of the meeting explaining two options for reconstructing the century-old sewer system running through Soapstone Valley Park. One option would reroute the sewer outside of National Park Service land. This would require two pumping stations and a permanent concrete roadway through Soapstone Creek over NPS land.
This image from DC Water’s July 28th presentation shows the rerouted pipes as red lines outside the green NPS boundary. The blue lines within the boundary are where DC Water would place a permanent access road. The red outline within the boundary marks another access path.
The other option would leave the pipes where they are and reline them. This would extend the useful life of the pipes by at least 50 years, likely beyond if the pipes that are now exposed to the elements can be protected somehow. The pipes lie unprotected in many places in the creek bed. This puts them at greater risk for rupture – trunks and rocks can crash into them during storm events.
Both options require cutting down trees and creating pathways, but the relining option would create temporary paths just wide enough to carry heavy equipment.
Connection contributor David Jonas Bardin is working on a piece that will explain the options’ pros and cons in more detail. In the meantime, you can check out the slides DC Water used for its presentation.
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Dave Donaldson says
Thank you for publishing this information. I was chatting with Steve Saari, Mart Pollack and Joshua Rodriguez last week at their District office of the environment and they told me exactly what was conveyed on Tuesday. What was probably the most alarming to me is the possible testing for animal or human DNA to determine the E. coli outbreak. Mr. Saari, mentioned to me when we were talking, that they were looking into the human test side of the testing because of perhaps runoff from a nearby construction site.
I agree with you and most folks that those warning signs should go back up. This is still on ongoing E. coli testing area and the public should be aware.