The Filthy Anacostia River

Just blocks away from the majestic capitol is the Nation's true treasure, with a LEED certified Baseball Field on one side, Bolling Air Force Base and a beautiful park on the other side and our beloved Anacostia River in between. Yes I'm being sarcastic; the river is a treasure of filth! Are you thinking about "going green" and would you like to start recycling? You will find a treasure of recyclable materials floating in the river, bottles, bags, soda cans, wrappers, and God knows what else. Twice a day I make my way to and from work cycling over the John Phillip Sousa Bridge and it makes me sick when I look in the water. The other day I saw ducks swimming and sifting through the garbage. I often see people down near the train tracks or on the opposite side in Anacostia Park lounging in a chair, drinking a beverage, relaxing with a line in the water in hope of catching a toxic fish. I love to fish but you would not catch me fishing in that cesspool! The fish are not safe to eat due to storm water runoff which makes the fish sick and can make the people who consume the fish sick. There are large amounts of toxins in the river to include PCB's and PAH's, both are considered carcinogens. In a study made by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, two thirds of Brown Bullhead Catfish have cancerous lesions and sores caused by contaminants in their tissue. In the afternoon, cycling across the John Phillip Sousa Bridge I often see the Capitol Rowing Club on the Anacostia. Sometimes I stop to watch them row and I think to myself "it would be beautiful if they were actually rowing on a nice clean and scenic river instead of rowing over cans, bottles, bags and trash." I wonder how many oars have picked up grocery store bags. Since I've been in the area they have been trying to clean up the Anacostia. When I say "they" I'm talking about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT), and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). Even the Attorney General of Maryland, Doug Gansler got involved. On June 16 he led an audit of the Anacostia River. It's going to take more than Maryland and the other organizations to get involved. It's going to take a grass roots effort to make the river fishable and swimmable. Yes, it's a lofty dream but I fell like the government does not give a crap, it's all lip service for political gain to get the locals to rally behind them. 30 years of lip service with no results. Politicians can argue the point of "no results" but do a comparison on how the river is now as compared to 30 years ago and there is not much of a change. Despite the visual eye sore, it is reported that the river is improving but I wonder if this is true. It's been "improving" for the last 35+ years I've lived in the metro area. As a young boy living near Bolling Air Force Base, when the wind would blow the right way, I would remember the horrid smell and how filthy the river was. Brent Bolin the Director of Advocacy for the Anacostia Watershed Society has said "it is improving very, very slowly" and "it will take decades if not hundreds of years to reach water quality standards."  This is unacceptable! The Anacostia River can be a beautiful river, evidence of this can be seen when you go to the Aquatic Gardens. I like to take my kids there so they can see a "nice" part of the river. Here is an idea, when a company decides to build near the Anacostia, "hint, hint Nationals Stadium" They should invest in the area to include the Anacostia River. After all the Nationals Stadium, which is a LEED building, wants to use the river to boat people in for the games to reduce traffic. While you are doing that why don't you educate the passengers on recycling, conservation and the ecology of the river you are transporting them on? While they are celebrating a Nationals win and intoxicated make sure they don't throw their crap on the streets and in the river. Build an Anacostia Education Center at Nationals Park to help with the clean up. The revitalization around the stadium is going very, very slow (like the Anacostia clean up) so why not do something environmental for the area? There are parts of the river that are beautiful, after all the Anacostia is one of the Chesapeake Bay tributaries. But still I wonder if the river is in remission like a cancer ready to rear its ugly head or is it actually changing. Storm runoff is still a very big problem and has not been fixed. What you see on the streets of D.C. and Maryland wash right into the river. In my opinion this should be the first priority to get under control. Before I close out my rant, there is a very nasty part of the highway that needs to be addressed. People that ride past the Nationals Stadium, across the Frederick Douglass Bridge to get onto 295 or Suitland Parkway run into a smell that is worse than swimming in an outhouse with your mouth open. I believe it's a sewage pump station that sits right at the split from South Capitol Street South West and Suitland Parkway. If you travel that way or have traveled that way you know what I'm talking about. That pump station is a pure representation and a monument to the Anacostia River. At this moment it represents everything the river is about. When I was stuck in traffic beside a vehicle I heard them say "Is that the River? Man it stinks!"  Be smart D.C. do something about the location of that pump station or do something about the smell. I'm happy I don't have to travel that road every day. It's disgraceful and you should be embarrassed or are you so use to the smell that you enjoy it?

Melvin Wylie