DC Developer to Pay $200,000 Over Drained Wetlands Near Anacostia River

From WUSA9:

A D.C. developer will pay the city $200,000 for serious environmental violations that drained wetlands near the Anacostia River and left them damaged and polluted, Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Wednesday. 

The Residences at Kenilworth Park, LLC (RKP), which owns a Ward 7 assisted living apartment complex, installed more than 200 groundwater extraction wells during construction without the required permits, according to the Office of the Attorney General. Their building at 1650 Kenilworth Avenue Northeast was on land with protected wetlands, and when their wells pumped out an estimated 3 million gallons of water a day, the OAG said, it dropped the water table and dried up two acres of protected wetlands near the Anacostia River.

Between late 2020 and mid-2022, the OAG said RKP broke multiple environmental laws, from the city’s Water Pollution Control Act to rules on well construction. The company allegedly discharged polluted groundwater into storm sewers on at least 50 occasions and ignored permit conditions that required them to report and fix the problem. All this came after RKP had promised in a Wetlands Mitigation Plan to protect and restore the site’s natural habitat.