Evening star., 1950-09-23

&sS& Nl sanitary EN- G
neer for tn
Mr.. Kemp. District Of CO
lumbia. He spoke at the annus
meeting of the commission here
Mr.. Kemp said he had referenc
in particular to the six-mil
stretch of the Potomac from Hahn
Point in Washington to Fort Foot
in Maryland. He said the condi
ton of this part of the river. is
greater threat to welfare of tn
area than the rivers condition il
the Luke-Cumberland area.
Section Has Deteriorated.
Unfortunately, Mr.. Kemp SAL
this section of the Potomac ha
deteriorated far below safe mini
mum water quality. He said HI
actually feared septic conditi1n
in this part of the river. which
would make the river an oper
sewer with it's foul water destroy.
ing all aquatic life except bacteria
Our commission has adopted
a very reasonable minimum sani.
tary criteria for this reach Of the
river" Mr.. Kemp said. "It should
be maintained above q nuisance
level and be able to pass safely
migratory fish"
Mr.. Kemp said that if the river
near Washington is allowed to
continue to deteriorate the dam
ages to navigation and shore in
stallations will be greater than
the cost of operating treatment
facilities.
IT feel that I would be remiss
in my duty if I failed to call the
attention of the people of the
Washington metropolitan area to
the present critical and near
dangerous condition of the Po-
tomac River" Mr.. Kemp said.
The Potomac River in the
Washington area. Mr.. Kemp said
can assimilate pollution load
equivalent to population OF
ATS 900 people and maintain itself
in a suitable sanitary condition
during average minimum summer
flow.
Treatment Plant Capacity.
The Districts present primary
treatment plant, Mr.. Kemp said
removes 33 per cent of the pollu-
ton from about $4,000 people,
of which 10000 live in Washing
ton, 10000 live in Maryland and
10000 are transients.
The efduent from this plant,
then. he said, is equivalent to the
pollution from over 611,000 per-
sons, or more than the river can
safely assimilate.
"The picture is much blacke1
If we consider the entire metro
politan area" Mr.. Kemp said
Its present population is about
100000, which includes $4,000
transients.
After treatment now rendered
by all agencies, the pollution dis
charged into the river is equiva-
lent to a population of 1,11000O
which is 2.3 times the load the
river can safely aSsimilate.
'This has depressed the rivel
to its present critical condition
Today, we should be removing
68 per cent of the pollution from
all sewage in the Washington
metropolitan area instead of the
20 per cent which we do remove.
Huge Growth Expected.
Mr.. Kemp said that even with
the removal from Washington OF
the "supersensitive" agencies, the
area will continue to grow until
the population is expected to
reach 1.9 million by 1880. When
this point is reached, he said, rs
per cent of the pollution must be
removed if the river is to be main
tained in safe condition.
Mr.. Kemp indicated that the
District is moving to meet the
problem. Engineering plans have
been approved between the Dis
trict and the Washington Subur-
ban Sanitary Commission in
nearby Maryland for the treat
ment of the Maryland sewage at
the District plant.
To meet the extra demand
Mr. Kemp said. the District now
is constructing additional sedi-
mentation and digestion tanks at
an estimated cost of $1,545, 900.
While this will be adequate to
give primary treatment to all
sewage originating on the east
side of the Potomac. Mr.. Kemp
said, the degree of treatment will
be less than half of that now re-
quired.
Further Expansion Planned.
Further, he added, Congress has
appropriated funds for preparing
plans for a secondary aeration
plant which ultimately will cost
about So million.
Construction at this plant, hi
explained. is expected to start ir
1852, and it will be built at thu
rate of 81 million a year. 1t will
not be effective. however, unit
about $5 million has been spent
he said.
While the Virginia Water Con.
troll Board and governing bodiei
of communities in Virginia ar,
aware of the conditions and ar,
beginning to take action, MI
Kemp said, the fact remains tina
no major abatement facilities hav
been constructed in suburban
Virginia since before World Wa
II.
Mr.. Kemp praised the editoria
policy of The Star for its "out
standing service to the Washing
ton metropolitan area and to tn
entire Potomac River watershe
in arousing public sentimen
against stream pollution"
a