Home | Intranet Login | Webmail | Site Map

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the U.S., and provides critical habitat for numerous species of fish, birds and other wildlife.  Over the past half-century, the environmental health and quality of the estuary and fringing wetlands has been significantly degraded, due to impacts from pollution.  Recognizing the importance of this national environmental treasure, the Chesapeake Bay Agreement was signed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to minimize impacts on water quality to help restore the Bay.  In 2003, Arlington County revised its Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance (CBPO) to define specific county-wide guidelines for development near streams and water bodies. 

The Arlington Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP), Arlington, VA, originally built in the 1930’s, currently treats over 30 million gallons of wastewater per day.  Increases in the population, aging facilities, and new federal and state regulations have driven the need for significant upgrades to the facilities to protect our environment, especially Four Mile Run, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.  A Master Plan has been developed to address aging infrastructure and a number of critical issues, inluding:

• Modernization of an aging infrastructure

• Expansion to increase capacity to 40 million gallons per day

• Generation of fewer odors

• Discharge of cleaner water to Four Mile Run, the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, including enhanced nutrient removal (ENR)

• Compliance with regulations to ensure a safe and healthy environment