Public Policy and Advocacy

The Anacostia Watershed Society was founded in 1989 when a group of local residents, led by founder Robert Boone, came together to protest decades of destruction of the Anacostia River and the neighborhoods around the river. 

Boone dubbed the Anacostia “the Forgotten River” and set out to make sure it wasn’t forgotten any longer.  Over the years, the Anacostia Watershed Society has fought proposals for inappropriate development, sued polluters to hold them accountable, and worked with legislators to advance pioneering public policy across the District of Columbia, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County.

By basing our advocacy on carefully collected data, we have earned the respect of legislators, policy makers, corporate partners, and local advocates throughout the Chesapeake Bay.  Some of our key policy victories have been successfully advocating for a fee on single use plastic bags, a ban on Styrofoam takeout containers and carcinogenic coal tar sealants, and a consent decree with DC Water that mandated the reduction of 98% of sewer overflows to the river.

Three Decades of Success

Over the past three decades, Anacostia Watershed Society has achieved significant victories on behalf of the Anacostia River and the neighborhoods of the watershed. Here are just a few highlights:

• 1988 – 1990 – National Arboretum Clean Up
  For decades the National Zoo had used the Arboretum’s river front property as a dump for animal waste. AWS leads the effort to stop the dumping and restore the area, which now is the site of the acclaimed Asia Garden as well as a riverfront dock site that offers access to the growing number of recreational boaters on the Anacostia River.
• 1989 – Hickey Run Restoration
  Anacostia Watershed Society alerts federal, state and local officials that three underground storage tanks were leaking hydrocarbons and antifreeze into Hickey Run, leading to an award winning retrofit of the Metro Bus facility on Bladensburg Road and the restoration of Hickey Run.
• 1992 – Kingman Island Theme Park
  Anacostia Watershed Society leads the effort to prevent a commercial developer from locating a theme park on Kingman Island, preserving the land as greenspace for recreation and environmental education.
• 1996 – Barney Circle Freeway
  Anacostia Watershed Society blocks a proposal to build an expensive highway connection over the river to divert downtown traffic, saving Southeast DC from air and noise pollution, the river from toxic pollution, and the citizens of DC from spending millions on unnecessary and destructive roadways.
• 1996 – Navy Cleanup
  Anacostia Watershed Society sues the U.S. Navy to force them to clean up PCBs left in the riverbed from ship building at the Navy Yard. AWS prevailed in the lawsuit and the Navy agreed to an $18 million cleanup.
• 1997 – Illegal Dumping
  Anacostia Watershed Society blows the whistle on illegal dumping on Kenilworth Park, within National Park Service land. Construction debris and garbage was being illegally dumped until AWS shut it down.
• 1999 – CSO Lawsuit
  Anacostia Watershed Society wins a landmark lawsuit against the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority’s Combined Sewer Outflow, which was dumping millions of gallons of untreated waste into the Anacostia with every rainstorm. As a result of this ruling, DC Water was required to construct a series of deep tunnels to prevent combined sewer spills into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers. See 2023 below.
• 2005 – Sports Stadiums
  Anacostia Watershed Society successfully advocates legislation that required that new sports stadiums should be designed to LEED standards, to minimize impact on the Anacostia River. As a result, National’s Stadium and Audi Field are among the greenest sports facilities in the nation.
• 2009 – DC Bag Bill
  After an Anacostia Watershed Society study of trash in the river reveals the high prevalence of plastic bags, the DC Council passes a $.05 fee on bags to reduce their usage and to fund river restoration efforts. The bill has been a huge success and is being copied in cities across the country.
• 2010-2011 – Montgomery and Prince George’s County Stormwater Regulations
  Anacostia Watershed Society works with county leaders and advocates to adopt the strongest stormwater regulations in Maryland.
• 2011 – Pepco Benning Road Plant Clean Up
  Anacostia Watershed Society and other advocates go to court to block a proposed agreement between Pepco and the DC Government because the agreement didn’t fully address the contamination on the riparian areas near the Pepco plant. In 2012, Pepco agreed to close the outmoded plant, and in 2013 Pepco announced it would demolish the eyesore, and restore the site. Today, the plant is gone and the clean-up continues.
• 2014 – After years of advocacy by AWS and partners, the DC Council passes legislation requiring a plan for cleaning toxic sediment from the riverbed. DOEE launches the Anacostia River Sediment Project. See 2027 below.
• 2015 – Prince George’s County Bans Coal Tar Sealants and Plastic Foam
  Anacostia Watershed Society led the effort to ban coal tar sealants, which produce toxic runoff, and polystyrene foam containers, which are a major source of pollution in the Anacostia River. All three watershed jurisdictions now ban these products. Trash trap data indicated that since the polystyrene ban, Styrofoam pollution has been reduced by over 75%.
• 2015 – Anacostia Watershed Society launches our Mussel Power restoration program, becoming a pioneer for freshwater mussel restoration in the region.
• 2018 – The Anacostia River receives its first ever passing water quality grade on AWS’s State of the River Report Card.
• 2023 -The new, expanded combined sewer overflow tunnel system comes on line, reducing overflows of sewage into the river by over 95%. This is a direct result of the Clean Water Act lawsuit filed by AWS and partners in 1999.
• 2023 – Mussel Power education and restoration program is integrated into the Prince George’s County Public Schools science curriculum.
• 2023 – Pepco reaches a settlement to contribute $47 million to cleanup of toxic sediment.
• 2024 – Supported by advocacy by AWS and partners, Prince George’s County bans single-use plastic bags. Not long after, Montgomery County follows suit.
• 2027 – After years of study and preparation, the Anacostia River Sediment Project is expected to begin remediation of toxic pollutants in the bed of the river.