DC sues US government over Anacostia River pollution

By Nate Raymond

Jan 10 (Reuters) - The District of Columbia on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to hold the federal government responsible for pollution in the Anacostia River, accusing it of systematically contaminating the river over the past 150 years by treating it as a dumping ground for sewage, trash and industrial waste.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. government should be forced to clean up the river in order to protect residents' health and make it safe for fishing, swimming, and wildlife.

He argued the federal government had turned the nine-mile river that flows through Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland into a "cost-free toxic dumping ground," wrecking what should be a pristine natural resource and disproportionately harming communities of color living east of the river.

"The United States is not immune from complying with environmental laws, and today, we’re suing to hold it financially accountable for the damage it has knowingly and intentionally caused," Schwalb, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The city filed the lawsuit under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), also known as the U.S. Superfund law, as well as the District’s Brownfield Revitalization Act.

Schwalb's complaint said the district was suing in its role as a trustee over natural resources, including the river's water, fish and wildlife. The U.S. has waived sovereign immunity under CERCLA, which allows for lawsuits to recoup cleanup costs for contaminated sites.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which defends the federal government in litigation, did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that the federal government, which owns and controls the riverbed, had through years of polluting since the 19th century deprived residents of the ability to use and enjoy a healthy river.

The lawsuit cited the U.S. Navy’s operations at Washington Navy Yard, including shipbuilding and gun manufacturing, which the complaint said polluted the river with carcinogenic PCBs, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.

The lawsuit also pointed to the federal government's operation of a waste dump on the banks of the river today known as Kenilworth Park where hazardous chemicals and metals were dumped via runoff.

It also cited repeated dredging of the river by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it said helped spread toxic pollution. The lawsuit also accused the federal government of mismanaging the District of Columbia’s sewer system, sending raw sewage and toxic waste into the river.

The lawsuit did not specify damages but identified some costs the District of Columbia had already incurred, including sewer modernization efforts that have cost taxpayers in the area $1.8 billion.

The case is District of Columbia v. United States, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:25-cv-00065.

For District of Columbia: Alec Bowman, Brian Caldwell, David Hoffman, Sean Powers and Wesley Rosenfeld of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston)