District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) General Manager Jerry N. Johnson met with residents in the area of Military Road. and Legation Street Monday night to share results of a study into the possible cause of sewer backups during heavy and continuous rainstorms June 24-26, 2006. The study findings were presented to residents attending a 7:30 p.m. ANC meeting at the Chevy Chase Community Center, 5601 Connecticut Avenue, NW.

The sewer evaluation covered an area along Legation St. from 39th St. NW to Broad Branch and along Military Rd. from 39th St. NW to Nevada. The process included residential surveys and inspections of the system using remote closed-circuit video equipment. Any claims for property damage are being individually evaluated by WASA’s risk/claims manager.

“We made a commitment to the residents to address any issues as soon as they were discovered during the evaluation process,” Mr. Johnson explained. “We took immediate action in response to the reported sewer backups and flooding, rather than wait for the investigation to be completed.”

The sewer investigation findings and WASA repairs are listed below.

•A collapsed sanitary sewer was found at the intersection of Legation St. and Nevada Ave. The collapsed pipe was repaired.
•The sanitary sewer line on Military Rd. between Connecticut Ave. and 38th Street was blocked with accumulated grease and soap. WASA cleared the line and reconstructed the sewer.
•The June 24-26 rainstorm overwhelmed the storm sewer causing flooding along Legation Street. The design standard for the storm sewer capacity does not accommodate a 200-year storm event.

Similarly, WASA recently completed a study for a portion of the Bloomingdale area which was also heavily impacted by flooding and sewer backups during the June storms. The results will be shared with residents in the coming weeks.

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