Case Studies
TrashCatT Used in Anacostia River Floating Trash Debris Removal Program

Trash and Debris
It is estimated that over 20,000 tons of trash and debris enter the Anacostia River annually (PG DER, 1994). Without question, it remains one of the watershed's most highly visible and aesthetic problems (Figure 13). 

Figure 13. Anacostia River Bank North of New York Avenue Bridge
 (photo: DC WASA, 1993).

Trash and non-woody debris, which enter the watershed's tributaries and tidal river largely through urban storm drain systems, also have chemical and biological impacts on receiving waters including: interference with the establishment of aquatic plants, leaching of toxics from certain types of trash such as used oil filters and batteries, and floating trash hazards to wildlife through ingestion of or entanglement in floating debris (Herson-Jones et al., 1994). The types of trash and debris and the sources are many, making the management of this ubiquitous problem quite a formidable task (Figure 14).

In 1992, the Floating Debris Removal Program for the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers was developed by the District of Columbia Department of Public Works as a pilot project to address debris control problems intrinsic to the tidal Anacostia River. These control problems include: relatively low flow rates and long turnover times of approximately 90 days in flushing out debris, many storm water and CSO outfalls, and many mudflats and deltas exposed at low tides, all of which tend to retain debris (Durrum, no date). While the collection of trash and debris does not address nor begin to control the sources of the problem, it does provide a means for quantifying it. The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority which currently runs the debris removal program collected approximately 960 tons of trash and debris in 1996. The significant increase collected in 1996 over the previous year was primarily due to several high runoff events (Figure 15). The increase in tonnage after 1993 was in part due to additional trash and debris collecting equipment (Donaldson, 1997).

Figure 14. District of Columbia TrashCat™ Trash Skimmer Boat Removing Trash (photo: DC WASA, 1993).

Figure 15. Tons of Trash Removed Annually from the Tidal Anacostia River, 1993-1997 (DC WASA, 1998)

STRATEGY: Appreciably reduce and/or eliminate the impact from combined sewer/storm water overflow events and storm water pollutant loadings; effectively control storm water loadings from new and existing development; remove trash and debris currently trapped in the tidal river as well as throughout the watershed; prevent future trash and debris deposition through community education and heighten public awareness; evaluate and address the problem of toxic sediments in the tidal river.

UMI TrashCat™ trash skimmer
operating  in Washington, D.C. waterways

PROGRESS:

Reduced Fish Kills
As previously stated, there have been no reported fish kills in the tidal river since June 1992. Despite generally poor water quality conditions present, the tidal Anacostia continues to support a relatively stable and diverse population of game fish (Figure 16). Also, while still well below historical levels, some 37 fish species called the tidal Anacostia River their home in 1996.

Erosion and Sediment Control
Since the mid-1980s, Montgomery and Prince George's counties and the District of Columbia have instituted stringent erosion and sediment and storm water management controls for all new development. In the intervening years, hundreds of urban storm water best management practices, such as wetlands, wet ponds, infiltration trenches, extended detention dry ponds, sand filters, etc., have been constructed.

Figure 16. Representative Gamefish Distribution in the Tidal River, 1992-1996 (data from DC FMP, 1993-97).

Tidal River Sediment Transport Model
As previously indicated, tidal Anacostia River sediments are highly impacted with organic and inorganic contaminants which have resulted in substantial biological impacts to benthos and fish. In 1997, the D.C. Department of Health-Environmental Health Administration worked closely with the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin to develop a sediment transport model for determining deposition dynamics in the tidal Anacostia. Understanding the processes related to sediment transport will help answer questions on how sediment and related contaminants are deposited within the tidal Anacostia and into the Potomac River as well. The data will also help in developing remediation strategies for dealing with contaminated sediments in the Anacostia River.

Storm water Retrofit
Starting in 1989, the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, the State of Maryland and later the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook the installation of storm water retrofit projects to include both new storm water controls for previously uncontrolled development and the modification of existing storm water controls to enhance their pollutant removal and stream channel protection performance. To date, approximately 200 storm water retrofits have been proposed. Approximately 60 projects have either been constructed or are in a planning or design phase (Figures 17 and 18).

Figure 17. Hollywood Branch Peat Sand Filter, Montgomery County

Figure 18. Kentlands No. 2 Wetland, Prince George's County

Under section 219 of the Water Resources Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (with sponsorship from Prince George's County) initiated a study of the impacts of storm water discharges from Federal facilities in the Anacostia River watershed in Prince George's County. The two-year Federal Facilities Pollution Prevention Study, which was recently completed, identified potential storm water retrofit projects at four Federal facility sites. In 1997, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection completed a storm water retrofit and stream restoration inventory for the environmentally sensitive Upper Paint Branch watershed. In addition to the 67 potential projects identified, the study included extensive stormflow modeling.

CSO Abatement
In 1989, the D.C. Department of Public Works and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency installed an innovative swirl concentrator facility to reduce the combined sewer/storm water overflow from the Northeast Boundary Interceptor which services the largest combined sewer system drainage area in the Anacostia at approximately 4,278 acres (Warner et al., 1997). Since becoming fully operational in 1990, it is estimated that the swirl concentrator has reduced both floatable material and total phosphorus discharges from this combined sewer system by approximately 25 to 30 percent. It also appears to have had a positive effect on DO levels in the river.

Storm Drain Monitoring
Since 1993, a total of 618 storm drain outfalls in the Prince George's County portion of the Anacostia have been screened by the County for possible illicit connections and pollution problems. Out of this total, 19 outfalls exhibited chemical pollution problems necessitating follow up enforcement actions.  

Sanitary Sewer Line System Upgrade
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, a regional water and sewer utility, has maintained an on-going rehabilitation and replacement program for aging sewer lines in the Anacostia's tributaries. The approximately $20 million dollar rehabilitation and replacement of aging trunk sewer lines in both Sligo Creek (Montgomery County) and Lower Beaverdam Creek (Prince George's County) was completed in 1997.

Toxic Sediments
In 1997, the D.C. Environmental Regulation Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency working with the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin developed a remedial action plan for contaminated Anacostia River sediments.

Biennial Federal Workplan
In 1997, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed its first Biennial Federal Workplan for the Anacostia River Watershed. The workplan includes an inventory of current, future and proposed projects and actions identified by Federal agencies that will contribute to the Anacostia restoration effort. The workplan also identifies gaps in Federal restoration efforts and provides recommendations on how to fill those gaps, including recommended activities on which Federal agencies should focus their efforts to achieve the ecosystem management approach for the watershed. The workplan also provides a detailed summary of current Anacostia restoration agreements and programs of Federal and local agencies.

Anacostia Federal Facilities Impact Assessment Study Under this Congressionally mandated study, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with assistance from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in 1997 identified over 50 storm water retrofit, stream restoration, wetland creation, drainage remediation and riparian reforestation projects and management measures at 11 Anacostia Federal facility sites. The study is expected to be completed in early 1998.

Subwatershed Restoration Plans
The D.C. Environmental Regulation Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, via the Hickey Run Comprehensive Pollution Abatement Program, contracted with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to develop the first Subwatershed Action Plan (Shepp, 1991) for the Anacostia (completed in 1991) and to develop and apply a prototype petroleum hydrocarbon storm drain tracing system (also implemented in 1991) for Hickey Run (Shepp, 1993).

Floatable Trash Reduction
Beginning in 1992, the D.C. Department of Public Works (DC DPW), the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources, the Prince George's County Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) developed floating trash management initiatives for the river and its larger tributaries. In 1993, DC DPW began using a small fleet of skimmer boats from United Marine International to remove trash and debris from the river. M-NCPPC, with assistance from the ICPRB and local volunteers, operated intermittently between 1993 and 1995, a trash boom upstream of the Bladensburg Marina to test the trapping efficacy of this technique. Over eight tons of floating debris were removed during the six-month-long trial period.

Figure 19. Storm Drain Stenciling (photo: PG DER, 1996).

The District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George's counties supported citizen initiatives to include stream cleanups and "Don't Dump" storm drain inlet stenciling, which identifies a storm drain's connection to the Anacostia watershed (Figure 19).

In 1995, the AWRC established a Trash Workgroup which subsequently developed a report and recommendations on trash reduction in the Anacostia. As a result, the workgroup in coordination with the AWRC will continue to develop initiatives designed to address trash and debris issues throughout the watershed.

The AWRC's Anacostia Citizens Advisory Committee (AWCAC) planned and conducted the first annual watershed-wide Anacostia River Cleanup Day. The April 1997 event, which both raised public awareness of the trash problem in the watershed and increased stream stewardship, brought together 800 volunteers who collected nearly 30 tons of trash and debris. The event, which was sponsored by AWCAC, the Anacostia Watershed Society and Seafarer's Yacht Club had three staging points: Bladensburg Marina, Kenilworth Park and Anacostia Park. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided two trash barges to help pick up the trash. Additional equipment and supplies - front end loaders, generators, trucks, vans, canoes and boats, radios, phones and trash containers - were provided by a number of District of Columbia agencies, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the towns of Bladensburg and Cheverly, Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources, Browning-Ferris Industries and Washington Gas.

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) helps to improve water quality by filtering contaminants, using nutrients for growth and releasing dissolved oxygen. SAV also provides important habitat for fish and food for waterfowl. Poor water clarity prevents SAV growth. Unfortunately, for most of this century, SAV has been absent from the Anacostia River. However, in recent years, the tidal Anacostia River has shown slight signs of improved clarity, particularly in the lower reaches which are more strongly influenced by clearer Potomac River water. As a result, SAV such as wild celery, coontail, hydrilla, water stargrass and milfoil have begun to slowly establish themselves in the Anacostia River downstream of the East Capitol Street bridge (Figure 20).

Figure 20. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Tidal River (data from VIMS, 1998).

Source: Anacostia Watershed Network

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