DC Clean Rivers (DC Water) Division PRT-A – Potomac River Tunnel Project A-Advanced Utility

The Potomac River Tunnel is the next major phase of the DC Clean Rivers Program. This two-phase project consists of a large-diameter deep sewer tunnel, diversion facilities, drop shafts, and support structures to capture flows from existing combined sewer overflows (CSOs) along the Potomac River and convey them to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plan for treatment. Potomac River Tunnel Project A-Advanced Utility Construction is the first phase of the project. The purpose of the Advanced Utility Construction phase of the project is to provide electrical infrastructure needed for the construction and then operation of the Potomac River Tunnel. This project is needed to reduce CSOs that contribute to water quality impairment of the Potomac River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay; and to comply with the 2005 Federal Consent Decree entered into by DC Water, the District of Columbia, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Department of Justice.

L. S. Caldwell & Associates, Inc. (LSC) had responsibility for the development, implementation, and monitoring of the Fair Share Objective initiatives for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority’s (DC Water) Clean Rivers Project.  This $2.6 billion program was the result of a Consent Decree signed by the District of Columbia, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice.  DC Water was required to clean up the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers by 2025.