Why Does Alexandria Hate the Bay?

Environmental group says Alexandria can replace sewer by 2024; city disagrees Until then, it will send shit straight into the Potomac River when it rains too hard.

An engineering firm hired by an advocacy group has concluded that the city of Alexandria ought to be able to replace the biggest of its combined sewer systems that send overflow waste into the Potomac River by 2024.

But the city’s top environmental official said the city needs more time than that, arguing that the firm failed to consider all the issues.

The sparring comes while city government officials await a hoped-for amendment to a new state law from Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) that would give them more time to rebuild four sewers that periodically overflow waste and storm water into the river and a tributary.

The General Assembly last month ordered the city to finish all construction by July 1, 2025. City officials say 2029 is the earliest deadline they can meet.

NewFields, an Atlanta-based environmental engineering group, said in a March 10 letter to the Potomac Riverkeeper Network that the city’s schedule to study, plan and build just one of the sewer projects in North Old Town is “inordinately long.”

The group argued that several planning studies should be able to go on simultaneously.

Wow, even under the optimistic projections, it's expected to take 7 years to fix their sewage problem. The city wants 12. It only took 1 year and 45 days to build the Empire State Building. I guess they're not all that serious about saving the Bay. They keep stalling until the farmers are forced to do a larger share.