For decades after Washington Gas shuttered its East Station plant along the Anacostia River, the toxic remnants of its operations have continued to poison the waterway. Oil sheens still float on the surface, and chemicals bubble up from the contaminated riverbed, threatening the health of communities that live, work, and recreate along its banks.
The District’s Department of Energy and Environment and the Office of the Attorney General said it uncovered evidence that hazardous pollutants from the site are still actively migrating into the river. Investigators documented oil sheens on a near-daily basis since 2021 and observed chemical vapors bubbling from the sediment on more than 100 days during that period.
Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said a settlement has been reached with Washington Gas, whom he stated has agreed to contain hazardous pollution actively seeping into the Anacostia River at the former site of the company’s East Station, a gas plant that operated on the banks of the river for nearly 100 years.
Schwalb said the agreement will finally force Washington Gas to take immediate steps to contain the pollution.
“For generations, widespread pollution of the Anacostia River has deprived District residents of the use and enjoyment of the river and threatened the health and safety of communities living along its banks,” Schwalb stated. “Washington Gas has failed to stop dangerous chemicals from continuing to degrade the river, and now it must take action to stop further pollution while the larger environmental investigation and remediation process continues.”
Washington Gas, now a subsidiary of Alta Gas Ltd., ran East Station from the 1880s until the mid-1980s. According to the complaint, its process of manufacturing natural gas from coal and oil produced dangerous byproducts, including polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, benzene, and toxic metals. The contamination has lingered in the soil and seeped into the Anacostia for generations, leaving a toxic legacy just steps from what is now Nationals Park.
Schwalb said the company must now install a containment boom on the river’s surface by late the end of this year or early next year, and by 2027 place reactive mats on the riverbed and build a permeable barrier along the shoreline to neutralize and block the release of pollutants. It is also required to provide monthly monitoring reports to the District, with steep daily penalties imposed if the company fails to comply.
The filing, which seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief, cited the company’s failure to halt hazardous discharges despite obligations under a 2012 federal consent decree.
Pollution from East Station has forced swimming bans, fish consumption warnings, and the loss of a public resource that should be safe for all residents. The District maintains that only full remediation of the site will achieve its goal of making the Anacostia River swimmable and fishable once again.
“Within 30 days of the settlement, Washington Gas must submit a plan for placement of the barrier, and the barrier must be installed within 60 days of receiving approval and necessary permits and permission for installation from two adjacent boat clubs, the Eastern Power Boat Club and District Yacht Club,” the settlement noted. “The boom is expected to be installed in late 2025 or early 2026.”
District leaders such as Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 2) emphasized the importance of the OAG working to stop the toxic remnants from continuing to seep into the river.
“Widespread pollution of the Anacostia River threatens the health of the communities living along its banks [and] prevents residents from enjoying its benefits,” Nadeau wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Thank you, AG Schwalb, for taking this important step to protect our waterways [and] improve quality of life in our city.”
