Cleaning Up the Potomac River

Growing up in Northern Virginia, I was always told to never go near the Potomac river; not to swim in it, play in it, or even kayak. This is mainly because the Potomac River is known to be extremely polluted due to the heavy congestion of the cities it flows through.

The river, which has been an environmental issue in the DC metropolitan area since the 1950s, is contaminated by both point and non point sources creating a wide variety of environmental problems. In the 1960s, the riverbed of the Potomac had absolutely no vegetation and the surface of the water had a bright green film of algae. Eutrophication plagued the river, causing fish and other marine life to die off, and the overall biodiversity of the Potomac decreased sharply. Residents of the DC area knew that action need to be taken, and founded groups such as the Allison Ferguson Foundation to help restore the Potomac River.

After the passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972, government took action in cleaning up the Potomac River as well. Point sources of contamination could now be controlled, allowing the federal government to regulate Washington's main waste water treatment plant, Blue Plains. The plant has spent $1 billion in upgrades as a result of mandated government regulations, outlined by the policies of the CWA. These upgrades, combined with the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative (established by the Allison Ferguson Foundation), have almost fixed the physical effects of pollution in the Potomac, such as the lack of vegetation and the bright green algae, but more problems remain.

Pollution from non-point sources, such as from farms and suburbs, is still making a serious impact on the Potomac River. As development of the DC metropolitan area continues to grow, more runoff pollution is entering the river. Also, mercury that is emitted from industrial smoke stacks settles on the Potomac, introdution chemicals into the water that have a serious affect on its inhabitants, such as male bass fish that produce eggs. Despite all of these unseen pollution problems, the river is used as the main drinking water supply for most of the area. DC tap water has high levels of chlorine pollutants, which are byproducts of the treatment that must be performed on the water to remove the high levels of pollution.

As you can see, the Potomac River has come a long way thanks to the work of groups such as the Allison Ferguson Foundation and the CWA, but more work still needs to be done. The federal government should do more to regulate non-point source pollution from farms and suburbia in order to restore the Potomac back to the pristine body of water that it once was.