Merrifield is the Potomac Riverkeeper, head of a local nonprofit organization seeking to improve water quality in the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers.
Is your job as authoritative as it sounds?
No, it’s not like that. We are all keepers of the river. Basically, we stop pollution — whether is through outreach to the community or taking legal action against polluters in the case that it’s necessary. Citizens basically are attorneys general when it comes to enforcement of the Clean Water Act. We just lead the effort.
What are the biggest problems with the Potomac?
We still have lots of problems upstream. There’s still plenty of algae that looks like green goop and industrial-waste problems that need to be fixed. The problems with sewage overflows have been well-documented; there is still about 2 billion to 3 billion gallons of raw sewage that gets dumped into the Potomac [each year].
Should D.C.-area residents be concerned about the drinking water?
The water meets or exceeds all Environmental Protection Agency standards. Today, the problem is all the issues that aren’t so visible. We have all those boats that take the floatable stuff off the top [of the river]. That isn’t really cleaning up the river but making it look better.
Do you think the intersex fish will disappear anytime soon?
Scientists are still trying to figure out the soup of chemicals that is causing them. We need to figure it out, or 20 years from now we could be asking why fish have three eyes.
But a recent U.S. Geological Survey report showed that the Potomac in cleaner than it has been in decades. Was that encouraging?
Of course. It shows the effectiveness of the Clean Water Act. Improvements at Blue Plains — the world’s largest, modern sewage treatment plant — have been a big part of the improvement. We still need to do more. That is just one component of the solution. – Brian Hughes
