Judge Orders EPA to Set Higher Anacostia Standards

Existing standards may not be strict enough to clean up the river

A federal judge has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt or approve new pollution standards for the Anacostia River.

The Washington Post reports that Monday’s ruling from Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth orders regulators to change current pollution caps because they may not be strict enough to clean up the river. The ruling gives the EPA a year to adopt or approve new standards.

The suit was brought by two nonprofit environmental groups who argued that pollution caps adopted in 2007 would not meet the requirement that the river be clean enough for swimming, boating and other recreational uses.

The EPA was joined in defending the suit by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and other associations. They argued that the pollution standards met legal requirements.

Anacostia River at Anacostia Park ramp

It's kind of funny that the EPA is in the role of resisting the imposition of higher pollution standards.  Almost anywhere else in the country they'd be the ones attempting to force a municipality, company or private person to adopt higher standards.  Why the difference?  Of course, it's because the governmental involvement in DC is so omnipresent, and any additional costs to be born will likely fall on the federal government in any case.

I worked in the Anacostia a few years ago.  It was strongly recommended that we get Hepatitis A immunizations if we were to be exposed to the water and sediment.