Washington, DC, Sues Federal Government Over River Pollution (1)

The US government used the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., as a “cost-free dumping ground” for toxic waste for more than a century and should cover cleanup expenses, according to a lawsuit from the district’s attorney general.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in the US District Court of the District of Columbia, says the US polluted the river with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and heavy metals from its operations in Washington Navy Yard, Kenilworth Landfill, federal printing facilities, and other sites.

“The United States is not immune from complying with environmental laws, and today, we’re suing to hold it financially accountable for the damage it has knowingly and intentionally caused,” Democratic Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a press release.

The lawsuit was brought under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), known as Superfund, which holds parties liable for past and present pollution. The US is the river’s biggest polluter, and many of the pollutants found in the river don’t break down and cause lasting harm to humans and the environment, according to the complaint.

The US is liable for cleanup costs because it “owns and controls the Riverbed where hazardous substances are located, has owned and operated facilities that released and continue to release hazardous substances into the River, and generated, transported, and arranged for the storage or disposal of hazardous substances that released into the River,” according to the lawsuit.

Washington informed the US and other alleged river polluters in 2021 of their obligation to pay for cleanup programs, but the federal government refused to accept responsibility, the lawsuit says.

Another cost collection effort was successful in 2023, when electric utility Potomac Electric Power Co., known as Pepco, agreed to pay the district $57 million, which covers interim response costs and civil penalties for its alleged role in polluting the river.

Aside from toxic waste and hazardous materials claims, the lawsuit says the US Army Corps of Engineers has regularly dredged the river bottom, filling in more than 1,000 acres of wetlands with polluted material.

Prior to 1973, the US also dumped raw sewage and toxic waste into the river through the capital’s federal government-run combined sewage system, the lawsuit says.

Washington has since completed upgrades that reduced sewage overflow, but the city will still need to spend $2.7 billion to fix the government’s “faulty” sewer design, according to the complaint.

The case is District of Columbia v. United States, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-00065, complaint filed 1/10/25.