Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced a lawsuit against Fort Myer Construction Company (Fort Myer), one of the region’s largest road paving and infrastructure construction companies, for illegally contaminating the District’s stormwater system with pollutants in violation of the Water Pollution Control Act (WPCA).
“For years, Fort Myer Construction threatened District residents’ health and safety by polluting our waterways in blatant violation of environmental laws,” said Attorney General Schwalb. “The company ignored repeated orders from DC agencies to clean up its facility and obtain proper permits, choosing instead to put its profits over the protection of DC’s critical natural resources. My office will continue to ensure that all businesses play by the rules, and that all Washingtonians have access to clean water.”
As early as 2015, Fort Myer began allowing petroleum-contaminated runoff from its Ward 5 storage and maintenance yard to discharge into the District’s stormwater sewer, polluting waterways including the Springhouse Run stream that flows through the National Arboretum into the Anacostia River. Over the next 8 years, the District’s Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) conducted multiple inspections of Fort Meyer’s facility. The inspections repeatedly resulted in notices of infraction, warnings, and directive orders to apply for the required permit to discharge under the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Multi-Sector General Permit program. Instead of applying for a permit and improving conditions at its facility, Fort Myer continued to flout local and federal environmental regulations, putting communities at risk by unleashing harmful pollutants into District waterways.
With this lawsuit, OAG is seeking financial penalties for Fort Myer’s violations of the WPCA.
The full complaint is available here.
This matter is being handled by David Hoffmann, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Lauren Cullum, Special Assistant Attorney General.
The Office of the Attorney General’s Efforts to Protect the Environment
OAG has a proven track record of protecting District residents from environmental harms and is dedicated to doing all it can to protect the Earth and the District in the short and long term by holding polluters accountable, fighting climate change, and standing up for communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by environmental contamination. OAG works closely with the Department of Energy and Environment to coordinate and implement Anacostia River cleanup efforts and investigate and assess damage to the District’s natural resources.
Over the past 10 years, OAG has secured nearly $120 million to promote environmental justice in the District— nearly half of which has been secured since January 2023 when AG Schwalb’s administration began, including a $57 million recovery from Pepco for contaminating the Anacostia River for decades.