Evening star., 1952-07-27
The Potomac Suffers, Too

Summer heat and drought again are having
their adverse effects on the Potomac River There
was time last summer when the flow was so
reduced and the pollution content consequently
so increased that the river approached what the
engineers call a septic condition. septic river
Is one from which purifying oxygen has been
eliminated by an overload of impurities, such as
sewage. While there is no danger of such a con-
dltion developing above Great Falls from which
our water supply comes, there is real danger of
septic or near-septic conditions in the tidal area
/ right at Washington's front yard. And there is
no hope of substantial relief for several years,
at the present rate of progress in combating
pollution.
Harold Kemp District Director of Sanitary
Engineering, in television program again has
warned of the dangerous situation in the river
Motorists who use the George Washington Me-
mortal. Parkway or the Mount Vernon boulevard
have sensed the filthy condition through their
noses. So have children and adults who fish the
river or ply it's water by boat To use an ineegant
but forceful expression the Potomac stinks Mr.
Kemp pointed out that between Hams Point and
Fort Foote, five miles below, the river today is de-
graded to an alarming degree. If the hot, dry
spell should continue as did the drought of 1880,
this stretch Of the river probably would become
devoid of all oXygen-posonous not only to fish
but to humans. Because of tides, the muck of the
DOCCOnl, nuCn OF WHICH is sewage, is exposed at
times to flies and other insects which could
infect residents along the river with various
diseases.
Much is being done to correct these hazard
Gus conditions but much more remains to be done
before the Potomac can be considered to be rea-
Sonably clean. At present the District is remov
ing only 35 per cent of the pollution from the
sewage it dumps into the stream near Blue Plains.
This sewage comes not only from Washington but
from nearby Maryland. However, improvements
at Blue Plains are expected to result in removal
of about 60 per cent of the pollution by 1856 and
Is per cent by 1860.
On the Virginia side there is concurrent
activity to deal with the problem. Aware of the
gravity of the crisis nearby counties and cities
have joined in financing comprehensive engi-
neering survey to determine the best way Of
abatng the sewage nuisance. Tentative plans
call for joint treatment facilities in certain water
sheds. Alexandria, which lacks any treatment
plant, is planning to join with Fairfax and
Arlington County in the anti-pollution program
Pressing for immediate action is the State Water
Control Board at Richmond which is deeply
concerned over the pollution in the Potomac
Aiding in the whole program through educa
tional and other means is the Interstate Com
mission on the Potomac River Basin.
There is good prospect, therefore, that the
river within a few more years once more will be
safe for general recreation and, above Key
Bridge, even for swimming. In the meantime
children should be warned not to risk infection
by cooling off these hot days in the fve-mile
stretch of the Potomac which now serves as an
open sewer for most of the Washington Metro
politan Area.