On Saturday, October 30, Anacostia Riverkeeper will present at the National Council of Churches’ Green Building Workshop for houses of worship. This event that will explore ways for houses of worship to save money on utility bills while addressing environmental justice issues. Click here for more details.

Then on Friday, November 5, attend the Living Classrooms 4th Annual Debris Cleanup Event and Anacostia River Celebration from 9am to 1pm at RFK Stadium Parking Lot #6. Join Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region (LC-NCR), The American Chemistry Council, Anacostia Watershed Society, Anacostia Riverkeeper, and corporate and federal partners at RFK Stadium and work together to keep Anacostia River clean! You will work alongside Washington, DC area teachers and students, federal and state officials, non-profit organizations and corporations as part of a greater restoration effort, and learn about the exciting things happening at Kingman Island in the future. Agency and corporate exhibits, along with local community and non-profit organizations will have information with hands-on activities for students. A picnic lunch will follow the clean up and awards ceremony. Click here for more information or to RSVP.

It’s right that the Federal Government pay the DC Water fee – during a heavy rainstorm their toilets drain directly into the Anacostia River untreated (thanks to the Combined Sewer Overflow System).

It’s also right that they pay the District fee given how much land they own in the District and how much of it is impervious surface. The rationale behind paying one fee but not the other is convoluted at best.

For more information, read the Washington Post article for details.

Participate in the Urban Waters/International Coastal Cleanup Event at Anacostia National Park from 8 to 1pm. Pick up trash and enjoy exhibits/demonstrations that celebrate community life along the river. This event is sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy and the EPA. Anacostia Riverkeeper will have its pontoon boat available for river rides at the park’s boat ramp beginning around 11am.

Attend the DC Clean Marina Clean Boating Workshop at District Yacht Club from 10 to 1pm. Anacostia Riverkeeper will present at this workshop for DC boaters; click here for more information and a schedule of events. River rides between this event and the Urban Waters/International Coastal Cleanup Event will be provided by Anacostia Riverkeeper.

Check out the Barracks Row Fall Festival on Capitol Hill from 11 to 5pm. Be sure to come by the Anacostia Riverkeeper/Historic Anacostia Boating Association table while you are there.

Good to see so much activity around the river. Come be part of the fun and the solution.

Council Chair Vincent Gray, Councilmember Tommy Wells, Councilmember Harry Thomas, and representatives from the offices of Councilmembers Yvette Alexander and Michael A. Brown have committed to attending, and many other council members and candidates have been invited. The press conference will take place on the Anacostia River near 12th and Water Sts. SE at one of the toxic sites.

There are six known toxic hot spots on and in the river: the Washington Navy Yard, Southeast Federal Center, Poplar Point, Kenilworth Landfill, Washington Gas Light and PEPCO Benning Road. These sites are contaminated by a range of toxics, including PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls), PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), and heavy metals – toxics that endanger the health of the river and the communities that live, work, and play near it.

I can’t help but wonder – in its failure to clean up these sites along the Nation’s forgotten river, has the government forgotten as well its responsibility to the communities that live along it?

Read the press release here, and for more information about the issue of toxics in the Anacostia Watershed, go to our Challenges – Toxics page.  Stay tuned to Anacostia Riverkeeper as it works to clean up these sites and hold our government officials accountable.

The most noticeable impact was on the water itself – it is a murky, muddy brown.  This is due to all the sediment, debris, and sewer overflow. (During heavy downpours, the District’s outdated Combined Sewer-Stormwater Overflow system kicks in, dumping raw sewage into the Anacostia.)

We also saw trash everywhere – more than usual – and big flotillas of trash, leaves and fallen branches.

In spite of all the trash and debris, the River is still filled with life – from the boat you could see herons, egrets, ducks, cormorants, and terns in the water and on shore.  Just a reminder of what we’re working to protect, and how beautiful the River really can be!

During our trip we were lucky enough to catch DC Water’s trash skimmer in action.  These boats have big jaw-like trash traps on the front, which collect surface debris.  Here’s a video of the skimmer doing its job!

We weren’t the only ones out on the River – check out Anacostia Watershed Society’s coverage of their outing yesterday!

Stormwater is a critical issue for the Anacostia River, and the River’s headwaters are in Montgomery County. Protection and restoration of Montgomery County’s waters are essential to the protection and restoration of the Anacostia River. With eighty percent of the Anacostia Watershed in Maryland, Maryland must do its part to clean up the Anacostia River.

Read the letter sent to the Montgomery County Council by the Stormwater Partners Network, and contact the Council to tell them to remedy Expedited Bill 40-10 according to the Network’s recommendations.

Then will come the important task of enforcing them. A permit is only as good as it can be enforced.

For information on the DC MS4 permit – Municipal Separate Storm Sewer – click here. For general information on what is a MS4 permit, click here.

For information on the DC Trash TMDL – Total Maximum Daily Load – click here. For more information on TMDLs, or pollution diets, click here.

District Department of the Environment, jointly with Maryland Department of the Environment and the US EPA Region III, will also host a public meeting on the Trash TMDL on Thursday, May 6, 2010, 1:00-3:00 PM at Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), 777 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Mayor Adrian Fenty, however, has proposed moving the entire Fund from the Department of the Environment to the Department of Public Works, to cover existing programs, particularly street sweeping, according to his recently released FY2011 budget. While street sweeping is a valuable city service that does reduce litter, it should be funded with general revenues, not the dedicated Anacostia River Cleanup Fund. Fenty’s plan also eliminates all reusable bag distribution to needy residents.

This use of the Fund is not consistent with the law’s goals, nor is it fair to all those who have paid the fee with the expectation that they are saving the river.

Update: We Won!

Thank you to all of you who spoke out against Mayor Fenty’s attempt to change the Fund.  The DC City Council rejected his proposal and the money raised from the Bag Fee continues to support the Anacostia Clean Up Fund!

www.trashfreeanacostia.com

I am honored to accept this award on behalf of Anacostia Riverkeeper. ARK has accomplished much in a short period of time, but I realize the work goes on. Together we can protect the Anacostia River and restore it to what it once was before polluted and forgotten. The award ceremony fittingly occurs after a morning of trash removal and environmental education at Kingman Island.

For more information about the event tomorrow, please visit our News and Events Section of the website. Hope to see you tomorrow or sometime soon on the Anacostia!

This Saturday Anacostia Riverkeeper will join with BB&T to clean up trash in Anacostia National Park at Poplar Point. Many thanks to BB&T for being a proud sponsor of Anacostia Riverkeeper, and many thanks to the employees who will give up their Saturday morning to help the river. Employees will have the opportunity to go on river patrols on the new pontoon boat BB&T has purchased for Anacostia Riverkeeper.

I mention all this to say I am happy to see all this attention on the Anacostia, a river that has long suffered from neglected, a river that has been mostly forgotten. It hasn’t been forgotten by everyone, however, and more and more people are discovering it and its value as a natural resource. If you haven’t has a chance to visit the river, or it has been awhile, feel free to volunteer for a clean up project or a river patrol.