Alexandria’s New Sewer Plan Assessment Released for Public Review
State law demands a new infrastructure program to prevent millions of gallons of pollution from reaching Alexandria’s waterways.
ALEXANDRIA, VA., – Alexandria Renew Enterprises (AlexRenew), with cooperation from the National Park Service (NPS), today announced the release of the Environmental Assessment (EA) for RiverRenew, a major infrastructure program to prevent millions of gallons of pollution from reaching Alexandria’s waterways. RiverRenew is being implemented in response to a 2017 Virginia law that requires remediation of Alexandria’s four existing outfalls by July 1, 2025. On rainy days, sewage mixed with rainwater overflows into local water bodies at these outfalls.
Portions of the proposed project are located on properties under the jurisdiction of the NPS. These include Jones Point Park, a unit of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the bed of the Potomac River, which is an administrative unit of the NPS. The EA evaluates potential impacts to the environment, community and cultural resources associated with RiverRenew. The EA is available for public review and comment through July 19, 2019.
RiverRenew includes the construction of a tunnel system, new sewer infrastructure and improvements to AlexRenew’s wastewater treatment plant. The system will capture the overflows and convey the sewage mixed with rainwater to AlexRenew for transformation into clean water.
The EA incorporates community feedback received during the initial Public Scoping Period (September – October 2018), when AlexRenew conducted extensive public outreach, including three community listening sessions and a Public Scoping Meeting with the NPS, to inform analysis of proposed alternatives for the tunnel system. The EA is available for public review and comment for 30 days, from June 19 through July 19, 2019. The NPS will evaluate substantive comments received while preparing the final Decision Document.
Three Community Listening Sessions are scheduled this month to share findings of the EA with the Alexandria community. Session dates are as follows:
- Monday, June 24, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Basilica School of St. Mary, at 400 Green Street, in Alexandria. Parking is available.
- Wednesday, June 26, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Charles Houston Recreation Center, at 901 Wythe Street, in Alexandria. Parking is available.
- Thursday, June 27, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the AlexRenew Environmental Center, at 1800 Limerick Street, in Alexandria. Parking is available.
The EA can be viewed and comments submitted electronically to the NPS at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/alexrenew and click on “Open for Comment” (the NPS preferred method) or comments may be mailed directly to:
ATTN: Robert Mocko
Subject: RiverRenew
George Washington Memorial Parkway
700 George Washington Memorial Parkway
McLean, Virginia 22314
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask the NPS in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that the NPS will be able to do so.
