Cases

Anacostia Pollutant Discharges Challenged

Clients

Friends of the Earth

Regional Office / Program

Washington, D.C. Office

Case Overview

The Anacostia River in the nation’s capital is badly polluted by raw sewage and stormwater. A lawsuit challenges inadequate pollution limits for the river.

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Case Updates

Dennis Chestnut teaches his grandson, Horus Plaza, how to test the water quality of the Watts Branch of the Anacostia River in Marvin Gaye Park in Washington, D.C. in May 2021.
August 9, 2021 Article: Victory

An Infamously Dirty River Is Coming Back to Life Thanks to Community Activism

Due to sustained community pressure and Earthjustice litigation, D.C.’s Anacostia River is finally recovering from decades of pollution.

Trash collects in a tributary of the Anacostia River outside of Washington, D.C.
August 13, 2019 Press Release: Victory

E. Coli Limits For Major D.C. Rivers Illegal, Court Rules

EPA’s pollution limits for Anacostia, Potomac and Rock Creek are too high

April 24, 2013 Article

Friday Finds: Seafood S.O.S.

Seafood lovers hooked on $1 oyster nights may soon have to find a new source of comfort for the work week blues. Thanks to an increase of carbon in both the atmosphere and our water bodies (which absorb about a third of all carbon emissions), carbon munching critters like crabs, lobsters and shrimp are getting bigger and hungrier, say scientists at the University of North Carolina’s Aquarium Research Center. After analyzing blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay in tanks pumped…

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Case page created on January 5, 2004.