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DC Attorney General suing construction company over pollution concerns
One of D.C.’s largest construction companies is being sued by the city for allegedly allowing contaminated runoff to pollute some of the area's most fragile waterways.
WASHINGTON - One of D.C.’s largest construction companies is being sued by the city for allegedly allowing contaminated runoff to pollute some of the area's most fragile waterways.
Fort Myer Construction is the company being sued. Their big project right now is the reconstruction of Dave Thomas Circle in Northeast D.C.
"It's so egregious and it's been taking place over almost a decade and that's just what they have documented. Who knows what happened before the complaints came in," Anacostia Riverkeeper Trey Sherard said.
According to D.C.'s Office of the Attorney General, Fort Myer Construction has been polluting D.C. waterways, including the Anacostia River, for as many as 10 years. At its plant along W Street, NE, the company produces asphalt for its many construction projects around the region.
The OAG's lawsuit alleges petroleum-contaminated runoff from this facility has been allowed to pour into the city's stormwater sewer system, making its way to Springhouse Run which flows through the nearby National Arboretum and eventually spills into the Anacostia River, which violates the city's Water Pollution Control Act.
"Our allegations in the complaint are that they've been well aware of what they were doing and well aware that they were not abiding by the requirements that the District was putting on them for making sure that this stuff was filtered out before the water made its way into the Anacostia," D.C. OAG attorney Will Stephens said.
Stephens says Fort Myer has not been abiding by the District's permitting requirements.
"Fort Myer knows what it's doing because the Department of Energy and Environment has been out there, has inspected and has given them orders and directives to take measures and they haven't complied with those," said Stephens.
In a statement to FOX 5, a Fort Myer spokesman wrote:
"No construction company in the District has built more green infrastructure projects protecting our environment and making our neighborhoods more resilient to extreme weather caused by climate change."
"We do not agree with the allegations in this lawsuit and look forward to defending our record in court."
But Sherard with the Anacostia Riverkeepers says it’s about protecting people, and their well-being.
"There's a human health component to this," he said. "Those oily compounds are washing down into the river, they enter the fish that some people are eating —not by choice but out of necessity — and there's a lot of other ramifications for this besides, 'oh this company was just misbehaving.'"
The lawsuit seeks financial damages from the company from $50,000 to $250,000 per violation.