Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-28
DISTRICT TO BUILD
BIG DUMP SYSTEM
Transfer Station Near Navy
Yard Will Collect Trash to
FIN 0xon Run Bay.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

ID w 11IL =
With the disposal Of refuse in the
District of Columbia already becoming
serious problem, and with the vol
ume Of city dirt sure to increase with
the growth Of the municipality, new
and larger dumping ground must be
provided for use in 1928, the District
engineers have found as a result of
eight months careful study.
An appropriation Of $325, 900 will be
included in the budget estimates to
take care Of the city refuse through
a plan which will develop q system
which will make adequate provision
for many years ahead, which will re-
claim 900 acres Of ground now covered
with water, and which will add miles
of modern street construction to the
highway plan of the District.
Would Have Transfer Point.
Briefly, the plan proposed is: ~ Ac-
quire a site in the zoned industrial"
dictrict adjoining the navy yard on
east as transfer point for units col
lecting refuse In the city, where large
concrete bins would be built for re-
ceiving the refuse and a garage to
house necessary trucks and tractors;
t2) construction Of miles of concrete
roadway on the line of Firth Sterling
avenue or Magazine avenue, in order
to give a direct and low-grade road
for tractor hauls of the refuse to the
new dumping ground; t3) filling in the
bay just southeast of Shepherd Land
ing In the mouth. of Oxon Run, and
immediately adjoining the property
which the District owns at Blue
Plains, and which is used as a home
for the aged and tnfirm.
This plan was worked out In con-
ferences by Mai. w. e. r. Covell,
assistant to the Engineer Commits
sioner, and Morris Hacker. supervisor
of city refuse. It has the indorse-
ment of Engineer Commissioner Bell;
of c. B. Hunt, engineer Of highways,
and of j. B. Gordon, sanitary engineer.
Disposal Is Serious Problem.
Mr.. Hacker reports that the dis.
poSal of refuse in the District is
becoming a serious problem. Here
tofore there have been large parcels
of low ground available for filling.
but with the increased area being
covered with new buildings the large
amount of excavated dirt from the
foundations Of these structures and
the improvement of the Anacostia
River. these dumping places have
become very much diminished in num-
Der and size, and the haul to them
has become increasingly long.
AS the land around these dumps is
improved and residences built thereon
an unsightly and unpleasant condition
is created by depositing in these low
places street cleanings and other
refuse. The District government is
now dumping in the following places:
James Greek Canal and Q street,
probable life, two years.
James Greek Canal and u street,
probable life, three years.
Congressional Cemetery, three years.
Northeast dump, Twentieth and e
streets, one year.
Randolph street, west Of Fourteenth
street, one year.
Woodley road and Twenty-ninth
street, one year.
s street and Wisconsin avenue, one
year.
Georgetown College grounds, three
Depends on Buildings
So the probable life sof these dumps
in short, and even these estimates
depend upon the amount of dumping
done by parties other than the Dis
trict. IL sbuilding construction con-
tinues at the Same rate it has held for
the last three or four years the life
OF most all of these dumps will be
very much shortened because OF the
excavated material from these i'm.
provements being deposited in these
low places. This Is something that
the District cannot control. It is
evident, therefore, that extensive
dumping grounds must be selected for
the future needs Of the city.
In consequence of this some eight
months ago Engineer Commissioner
Bell directed Maj. Covell and Mr..
Hacker to make special study of
possible future dumping places with
in and without the District. At only
one of the present dumping sites is
the land owned by the District OF
Columbia. 30 that at all the others 1t
is possible for the City Refuse Divi-
sion to be ordered out on short
notice.
s The Health Department has fire.
uuently objected to the insanitary
conditions caused by these dumps
within the city, and pressure has been
brought to bear by the public to dis
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