Environmental groups are crying foul on an agreement reached between the District and Pepco that they say doesn’t go far enough to protect the Anacostia River from contamination. Natural Resources Defense Council, Anacostia Riverkeeper and the Anacostia Watershed Society plan to seek an injunction in U.S. Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, seeking what they say should be a stronger agreement for river cleanup at the energy company’s Benning Road facility.
The consent decree reached in February requires Pepco to conduct an environmental study of the area and determine the company’s role in contaminating the water with PCBs. But it doesn’t actually contain any provisions to clean up the site, the groups say.
In its complaint filed against Pepco in January, D.C. alleged six separate cases in which PCBs were released by the Benning Road facility into the Anacostia River via groundwater discharge from the plant. PCBs are known to cause cancer in animals and are linked to birth defects in humans.
“Everybody knows it’s all Pepco’s responsibility, yet they’re asking Pepco to study it with no binding commitment to clean it up once they’re done studying it,” said Aaron Colangelo, an attorney for the NRDC.
Christophe Tulou, director of the D.C. Department of the Environment, said his agency would oppose the motion and that the consent decree followed the appropriate procedures for cleaning up a contaminated site.
“You have to … figure out what the contamination is and of course, after that, you obligate them to clean it up,” he said. “It is premature to go further.”
A spokesman for Pepco said the company supports the Anacostia cleanup efforts and “remains committed” to keeping the public informed of its investigation progress.
The Benning Road facility, in use since 1904, is one of the Anacostia River’s top six “toxic hot spots” identified by environmental groups. According to the watershed society, D.C. has resisted adding the hot spots to the federal Superfund National Priorities List.
