Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb has announced a lawsuit against Fort Myer Construction Company, one of the largest infrastructure construction firms in the region, for violating the District of Columbia’s Water Pollution Control Act (WPCA).
The lawsuit alleges that Fort Myer has been contaminating the District’s stormwater system with harmful pollutants for nearly a decade, endangering public health and the environment.
“For years, Fort Myer Construction threatened District residents’ health and safety by polluting our waterways in blatant violation of environmental laws,” Schwalb said in a statement. “The company ignored repeated orders from D.C. agencies to clean up its facility and obtain proper permits, choosing instead to put its profits over the protection of D.C.’s critical natural resources. My office will continue to ensure that all businesses play by the rules, and that all Washingtonians have access to clean water.”
The complaint claims that starting in 2015, Fort Myer allowed petroleum-contaminated runoff from its Ward 5 facility to flow into the District’s stormwater system, polluting waterways such as the Springhouse Run, which flows through the National Arboretum into the Anacostia River. Over the years, the District’s Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) conducted multiple inspections at Fort Myers’ site, resulting in numerous notices of infraction and orders to apply for a federal discharge permit. The lawsuit asserts that Fort Myer repeatedly failed to comply with these directives.
According to the suit, DOEE inspectors found at least 20 instances of illegal pollutant discharges from Fort Myer’s facility between 2015 and 2023. Despite being ordered to install water pollution control devices and obtain an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit, the company allegedly neglected to follow through, further jeopardizing local waterways.
Schwalb’s office is seeking financial penalties for Fort Myer’s violations as the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said it continues efforts to protect the District’s natural resources. Over the past decade, OAG has secured nearly $120 million in environmental justice recoveries, with almost half of that amount obtained since Schwalb took office in 2023. This includes a $57 million settlement from Pepco for its contamination of the Anacostia River.
Fort Myer, a principal contractor in the District since its founding in 1972, issued a statement denying the allegations.
“Fort Myer Construction is proud to be an award-winning construction firm and leader in green infrastructure work,” said Josh Brown, the company’s marketing director. “No construction company in the District has built more green infrastructure projects protecting our environment and making our neighborhoods more resilient to extreme weather caused by climate change.”
However, the lawsuit tells a different story. After failing to secure the EPA permit for years due to inadequate documentation and stormwater monitoring reports, Fort Myer only received the permit earlier this year — nearly a decade after the initial warning.
Inspections as recent as 2022 revealed ongoing polluted discharges, including petroleum waste found in Springhouse Run, traced back to the Fort Myer facility.
“We will not hesitate to hold polluters accountable,” Schwalb stated.