The CAG is working with Pepco and DDOE towards the common goal of a cleaner Anacostia River that can reclaim its past identity as a treasured environmental and recreational resource within the District's urban environment. The Benning Environmental Study Community Advisory Group
The Benning Road facility was identified by District of Columbia and federal government agencies as one of six sites potentially contributing to contamination of the Lower Anacostia River. As part of its larger effort to clean up and protect the Anacostia River, the District Department of the Environment asked Pepco to assess whether and to what extent the Benning Road site has contributed to problems in the river. As a part of the Consent Decree, Pepco has created a Community Involvement Plan (CIP) to describe the program for facilitating communications with the public and providing opportunities for public participation with respect to the environmental study. These actions include the formation of a Community Advisory Group. The Benning Consent Decree
Pepco's Benning Service Center is one of six publicly and privately owned sites along the Anacostia River that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) have identified as potential sources of pollutants impacting the river. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that some contaminants from historical operations appear to have migrated from the Benning Service Center site to the shoreline and sediments of the adjacent Anacostia River. The Anacostia is a valuable resource for the District of Columbia and its residents, and Pepco is committed to doing its part to support the efforts of the DDOE, the EPA, local environmental groups and D.C. residents to restore the river's environmental health. In January 2011, Pepco and DDOE signed a Consent Decree that detailed Pepco's agreement to evaluate environmental conditions at the Benning Service Center site and adjacent portions of the Anacostia River. Pepco will perform this evaluation (known as a "Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study"), with DDOE's oversight. The first part of the evaluation will investigate conditions at the Site and adjacent shoreline areas and river sediments to determine if historical operations at the site have contributed to contamination of river sediments, and to assess any impacts to human health and the environment from existing conditions at the site and adjacent portions of the river. The final phase of the evaluation will identify options for addressing contamination within the study area, if identified, for consideration by DDOE. DDOE will use the results of the assessment to determine, with input from the public, what, if any, cleanup actions should be undertaken at the Benning Road facility or adjacent areas of the River. The Consent Decree serves as a public record of obligatory actions to which both DDOE and Pepco have agreed and to which Pepco has committed.
