The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) will hold a public meeting to present information and receive public comments on the proposed Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT) project.

The meeting will take place in an open house forum where members of the public are invited to stop by any time between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to see displays and discuss the project with DC Clean Rivers Project staff. The date, time, and location of the meeting are as follows:

WHEN: Thursday, October 17, 2013, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: McKinley Technology High School, 151 T Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002

In addition, a 30-minute project presentation will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. in the school auditorium located near the main entrance. Mr. Carlton Ray, Director of the DC Clean Rivers Project, will be on hand to conduct the presentation.

“We will present this information so the public has a clear understanding of the proposed project, which is primarily to reduce flooding and sewer backups in northeast DC. We hope to get valuable feedback from the public before we start work on an Environmental Assessment (EA) that will document our evaluation of the project’s potential environmental impacts,” said Ray.

The DC Clean Rivers (DCCR) Project is comprised of multiple projects designed to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSO), meet water quality standards and relieve flooding in the District. A major component of the DCCR Project is the Northeast Boundary Tunnel (NEBT), proposed to be constructed from a point just south of RFK Stadium to the intersection of 6th and R Streets, NW. The 5-mile long, 23-ft diameter NEBT is designed to collect, convey, and store CSOs and also provide flood relief to chronic flood areas in the Northeast Boundary (NEB) area of the District.

The NEB drainage area is located in a highly-developed area of Washington, DC that is served by a combined sewer system. The NEB area includes the District neighborhoods of Kingman Park, Trinidad, Gallaudet, Ivy City, Brentwood, Eckington, Bloomingdale, LeDroit Park, the Old Soldiers Home, Brookland, Petworth, Columbia Heights and others. As with many communities developed in the 19th century, the sewer system serves the dual purposes of collecting wastewater from homes and business and storm water runoff from streets and properties. Referred to as “combined sewers,” these systems continued to serve the District as development transformed low-density rural areas into densely populated neighborhoods. The drainage area encompasses approximately 34 percent of the total combined sewer area in the District and has a long history of chronic flooding problems during storm events.

In addition to the tunnel component of the NEBT, the project would also include the construction of near surface structures along the tunnel alignment. These near surface structures include diversion chambers, approach channels/diversion sewers, drop shafts and adits. These facilities will be constructed to relieve the existing sewers during storm events when their capacity is exceeded and convey the flow to the tunnel. Combined sewage captured by the NEBT would eventually be transmitted to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. At Blue Plains, the combined sewage would be treated to comply with DC Water’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, and the Federal Consent Decree entered into by DC Water, the District, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

DC Water is initiating work on an Environmental Assessment (EA) to identify and evaluate potential environmental impacts of the proposed Northeast Boundary Tunnel project. As a result of the project, DC Water anticipates short-term adverse impacts to communities surrounding the construction staging areas (CSAs) where the diversion sewers and drop shafts would be constructed. Impacts would include, but are not limited to: lane closures that would likely have temporary effects on traffic; construction vehicles and equipment that would create noise and affect local air quality during construction; and short-term changes in land-use to accommodate construction activities and equipment. DC Water will prepare the EA to document its evaluation of the project and its potential effects on the environment and the public. The EA will also identify and document measures to avoid, reduce, or mitigate these effects to the greatest extent feasible.

A public comment period will be in effect until November 15, 2013 to gather input from the public. Comments received will be reviewed and incorporated into the EA. After November 15th, comments will be accepted; however, DC Water cannot guarantee that these comments will be incorporated into the EA. An additional comment period on the findings of the EA will occur following its public release, tentatively scheduled for February 2014.

“We encourage the public to go to our website and submit a comment form to tell us about any concerns they have with the project so that we may consider them in the Environmental Assessment,” said Mr. Ray.

For additional information on the DC Clean Rivers Project, visit our website at: http://www.dcwater.com/cleanrivers.

To view more detailed Northeast Boundary Tunnel project information or submit comments online, please visit the project webpage at: http://www.dcwater.com/NortheastBoundaryTunnelEA.

To email directly, please use: dccleanrivers@dcwater.com