Evening star., 1925-05-17
NEW P|NEY BRANCH
DRAINAGE SOUGHT
Board of Trade Committee
Urges Commissioners to Con-
slider Present Conditions.

Deplorins the polluted condition of
Piney Branch west of Sixteenth street
the committee on sewerage of the
Washington Board of Trade, in the
annual report of Chairman Asa E
Phillips, urges the Commissioners to
consider this condition in framing the
new estimates of the Sewer Depart
ment. The report was recently adopt
ed by the board of directors.
The committee expressed gratifica-
ton over the liberal sum allowed by
Congress in the last appropriation act
for improving the drainage system.
but declared it would have been more
gratifying had the Commissioners
considered the Piney Branch condi-
ton.
Worst I'm Country.
Piney Branch is referred to by the
committee as being not only the most
highly polluted stream in the District,
but is probably the most grossly pol
luted park stream in the entire coun-
try" In describing the condition of
the stream the committee said:
The enormous volume of this
sewage now periodically DISCHARGED
into Piney Branch west of Sixteenth
street, has converted a park stream,
the banks of which are the play
<round for many children. into an
open sewer. For at frequent inter
walls throughout the year the entire
sewage from a population soon to
number 100000 persons, including the
sewage of the tuberculosis Hospital,
is now dumped into this small park
stream, flowing in a food of pollu-
tion down the length of the Piney
Branch parkway and into Rock Greek,
where 1t contaminates the waters en-
tirely through the National Zoolog
ical Park"
Protest and Reply.
After telling of the results of bac-
THEOLOGICAL limitations. the COM
mittee continued its discussion of
Piney Branch as follows:
These conditions had been given
careful study by your committee, be
fore submitting it's last report and
specific recommendation was therein
made that relief should be provided.
II is hardly necessary TO restate here
the details of this problem, as these
have quite fully been set forth in the
recently issued annual report of the
board of trade. But certainly the
fact should be recorded, that this Ie-
port was submitted by the board of
trade to the District Commissioners
as early as May 90, 1924, in ample
time fo- the inclusion of this improve
ment in their 1925 annual estimates.
No reply was received to the board of
trades letter of May 29, 1924, until
March 3, 1925, when the Engineering
Commissioner wrote in reply, that 1T
is not deemed eypedient to consider
further treatment in the Piney Branch
parkway at the present time
Yet, during this interval, the Com
missioners submitted estimates, to go
to Congress, for suburban sewers
alone, IN 81 projects, aggregating
nearly 1000 900. many items of which
were Improvements In sundry sub
urban developments, having but minor
and local interest, and none com
parable in mayor importance to public
health and sanitation, with the re-
moval of sewage from the Piney
Branch Parkway, and the correction
of this gross pollution Of Rock Creek
within the limits oft he park"
The committee also reported that
the recent abandonment of the public
bathing beach on the Tidal Basin in
Potomac Park presents an additional
reason why Rock Creek and its lateral
stream should be redeemed from sew
age pollution and their waters made
clean, so that bathing and wadlng
need not be prohibited for hygienic
reasons. In conclusion, the committee
proposed:
lit is recommended that the atten-
tion of the District Commissioners
again be directed to this important
matter. with the request that II re-
ceive their attention prior to the prep
aration of their next annual esti
mates