Hazmat Release in Four Mile Run

Just got this from Arlington Alert:

Avoid all contact with Four Mile Run stream downstream of South Walter Reed Drive until further notice as precautionary measure following major automobile fire resulting in the release of auto fluids and fire fighting materials.

Saturday: ACE/CVN Pickup & Drinkup

When there's a stream that needs cleaning and an organic beer that needs drinking, The Green Miles cannot turn down an opportunity to serve his community. Will you join my crusade to leave no trash behind and to let no Peak Organic Amber Ale go flat?

I'll be heading down to South Arlington on Saturday, as Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment and the Community Volunteer Network team up for a Pickup & Drinkup from 3-7pm.

We'll start by cleaning up Four Mile Run, meeting at 3pm at Arlington Mill Community Center (4975 Columbia Pike). Wear sturdy shoes and bring work gloves if you have them.

Then at 5pm, we'll head over to Busboys & Poets in Shirlington (4251 South Campbell Ave). Busboys is a leader in sustainability and their Saturday happy hour includes organic draft beer.

Should be a great way to get outside and enjoy a summer Saturday afternoon. Sign up here!

In case of bad weather, call 703-228-6406 after 1pm on July 25th to find out if the event is postponed (rain date is the next day, Sunday July 26th, same time and place).

Answering President-Elect Obama's Call to Service

With a noontime wind chill in the single digits, I wondered if today's Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment cleanup to answer President-elect Barack Obama's call for a weekend of service would even happen. Instead, I arrived at Arlington Mill Community Center to find a dozen people already picking up trash from Four Mile Run and the surrounding area, another dozen grabbing bags and getting instructions, and another dozen still pulling up.

I managed to fill one bag from the steep southern bank of Four Mile Run before my numb face and feet told me it was time to leave the rest of the cleanup to the eager kids scrambling all over. In fact, that was the best part of the event -- watching the children bounce rocks on the frozen stream, . One excitedly yelled, "Mom! Look! An animal bone!" He held up something smaller than a chicken bone -- but he'd found this in the wild!

ACE is also partnering on cleanups on Sunday and Monday, you can get details at ArlingtonEnvironment.org. To find more MLK Weekend of Service events near you, visit USAservice.org.

Wind chill-proof volunteers:



Four Mile Run passes under Columbia Pike:



Noticed a phone under the ice. That's one cleanup item that'll have to wait for spring:



Bags of trash collected by the volunteers and the prize for the day's oddest find - a car bumper:



Finally, The Green Miles and his collected trash:

Dropping a Deuce: Port-a-Potty Emptied into Four Mile Run Again

Yuck:

Arlington County officials are warning residents to stay out of Four Mile Run Stream because it has been contaminated with waste from a portable toilet for the second time in as many weeks.

The waste was dumped into a storm drain and flowed into the stream near Interstate 66 and Westover and Bon Air parks, officials said. A resident reported the spill about 8:30 this morning. [...]

Officials believe the illegal dumping is connected to a similar incident that occurred July 31. The county also had advised residents to avoid the water after that spill, but lifted the advisory Tuesday after clean-up, days of stream flow and a rainstorm helped flush away bacteria from the spill.

Park officials and Arlington fire officials are investigating.

I don't think most people realize Arlington's storm drains often flow straight into our local waterways with no treatment. Hopefully Arlington authorities can catch who's responsible -- it's our tax dollars that are paying to clean up these messes.

Snakes in a Drain

Did a stream cleanup on Saturday with Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment and Arlington CRM at Four Mile Run through Barcroft Park: Plastic and styrofoam containers are usually among the most common items found. They're thrown on the street or are blown out of trash cans and wash down into the stream: What kills me is that virtually all of the water and soda bottles we found had caps on them. Like the person who bought them said, "I don't care enough to make sure this bottle gets in the trash and stays there. But I'm not careless - I'm keeping the cap on!"

This is the really gross part, though. Get up close to the bank of virtually any Arlington stream and this is what you'll see: Cigarette butts and tiny bits of styrofoam. After years of doing these cleanups, I've pretty much given up on collecting cigarette butts and styrofoam peanuts. You could spend all day going through it with a fine-toothed comb and never get it all. Gotta focus on the big stuff, and there's plenty of that to keep you busy.

At the end of the cleanup, I went to cross Four Mile Run at a raised concrete ridge, the remnants of the Army Corps of Engineers' efforts to solve Four Mile Run's flooding problems by turning it into a giant storm drain. As I was about to turn onto the ridge, I noticed a snake about a yard away from my ankle, sunning itself in a piece of rebar: I'm not sure who got out of the way faster, me or the snake. But as you can see, it wasn't exactly cowering in terror, just waiting for me to move on:


I turned around and there was another snake in the water, this one much smaller: Any snake experts out there able to identify what kind these may be? The coloration and size seem to match up well with the glossy crayfish snake, but Arlington seems out of their range.

UPDATE: Commenter suggests a plainbelly water snake, what do you think?

Sewage Leaks Into Four Mile Run

Just got this from Arlington Alert:

Residents Urged to Avoid Four Mile Run Stream

A broken pipe caused sewage to leak into Four Mile Run Stream near Bluemont Junction, affecting waters all the way to the Potomac. All residents are advised not to fish in or have any contact with the waters – including wading or swimming – until further notice.

UPDATE: More details in an Arlington County news release.

Saturday: ACE Pickup & Drinkup

Saturday's Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment Four Mile Run event just got a little more fun. Unless you're a Florida State fan.

First, there's The Pickup. At 2pm. we'll meet at the pedestrian bridge at S. Arlington Mill Dr. and S. Randolph St. in Shirlington, then head down to Four Mile Run to pick up trash along the stream banks. The forecast is for the low 50s, so to paraphrase Mary Schmich, if I could offer you only one tip for Saturday, layers would be it.

And now we've added The Drinkup. At 4pm, we'll head over to Bungalow Billiards (2766 South Arlington Mill Drive) for some drinks and appetizers. They'll have The Love Shack reserved for us, a corner with chairs and a railing made up to look like a front porch, though with those chilly temperatures outside, I don't think we'll be ordering mint juleps. While we're chatting up Fresh AIRE, the Green Living Challenge, and the impact of Tuesday's elections on Virginia environmental policy, Virginia Tech fans can also watch the Hokies beat up on Florida State. Arlington Community Role Models has a volunteer event in Shirlington on Saturday as well, so we've invited them to join us at Bungalow. Should be a fun crowd!

You're welcome join us for both ends of the event, but if you can only make just the Pickup or just the Drinkup, that's fine too. Hope to see you on Saturday!

Fixing Four Mile Run

As reported in the Sun-Gazette, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) recently made this federal funding announcement:

$700,000 for the Four Mile Run project, to enable the Army Corps of Engineers to complete its study of the options to replace the current cement channel with a more natural stream bed. Completion of the study would give Arlington and Alexandria a green light to implement the first phase of the master plan to transform Four Mile Run into a habitat more suitable for wildlife and recreation.

Congressman Moran has been a leading advocate of renovating lower Four Mile Run, following through on the project for years now.

You can see a little history of Four Mile Run's channelization at the Northern Virginia Regional Commission's website. It's worked perfectly from a flood-control standpoint, but much like the Army Corps of Engineers' well-intentioned flood-control efforts on the Mississippi, the channelization had a devastating environmental impact.

But the restoration efforts could lead to the best of both worlds -- flood control and an aesthetically pleasing, environmentally friendly river. Arlington County's website has some tantalizing images of what the restored channel could look like.

Right now, if you live on South Glebe near Four Mile Run, you're essentially living next to a big concrete drain pipe. But once the restoration is complete, you'll be living next to a natural stream. That can only lead to new development and higher property values, so this project isn't just the right environmental move, it's the right economic move.

Volunteer Reviews Saturday's Four Mile Run Cleanup

I just posted a OneBrick volunteer's review of Saturday's cleanup over at What's Up Arlington! Note The Green Miles in the back row of the first photo with the blue Patriots cap. And of course, stylish layered sweatshirts.

Good News on Four Mile Run Pollution Issues

Just got this update from Lynne with the Parks Department ...

Good news. The fire marshal checked the substance & it had a neutral pH. He does not think it is a petroleum chemical. The water looks very clean near the discoloration. I think it might be iron from the ground water. Just to be sure, I have sent one of our naturalists to check it out. I’ll
let you know if he finds anything.

More good news. The managers from the car wash & Jiffy Lube agreed to clean up the trash behind their businesses along the stream banks where our volunteers could not reach. There is a significant amount of trash back there. We’ll try to keep better track of that area.

Update on Newly-Discovered Four Mile Run Pollution Issues

Here's the update I got from Aileen at Arlington County's Department of Environmental Services ...

I will try to check it out, although it does sound like the iron oxidizing bacteria that we see occasionally in the County streams. I was able to click on the pictures and see them up close. The iron is dissolved in the groundwater, and it oxidizes as it enters the stream along the edge of the stream. You can see that in the picture. Although there is also a large puddle of up on the bank too. The “oily” sheen is from the bacteria that oxidize the iron. They look very much like oil, but one way to differentiate them from an oil slick is to stir them up with a stick. The bacteria will break up into clumps, and oil would just swirl around on the surface of the water.

There is some information about the iron bacteria at the bottom of each of these pages:

Stream pollution information

Stream photos

I will check with the Fire Dept. and will stop by and check it out as well. I’ll let you know what I find out!

Here's the relevant paragraph from the stream pollution information page on "red-orange" discolorations ...

Filmy deposits on the surface or banks of a stream are often associated with greasy "rainbow" appearance of iron bacteria. This is a naturally occuring phenomenon where there is iron in the groundwater. However, a sudden or unusual occurrence may indicate a petroleum product release from an underground fuel storage tank. One way to differentiate iron-oxidizing bacteria from oil releases is to trail a small stick or leaf through the film. If the film breaks up into small islands or clusters, it is most likely bacteria. If the film swirls together, it is most likely a petroleum discharge.

ACE & OneBrick Volunteers' Discovery Sparks County Investigation

We had a great time at Saturday's Four Mile Run cleanup, with a chilly morning turning into a beautiful spring-like day. We'll have a review of the cleanup posted to What's Up Arlington shortly, but first I wanted to spread the word on some startling discoveries made by the volunteers.

The cleanup took place along Four Mile Run behind Barcroft Park, with volunteers fanning out down the stream banks past several businesses. Behind the Jiffy Lube at 4148 S. Four Mile Run Drive, volunteers noticed discolorations on the stream bank -- part of it orange, part of it oily. In the attached photo, you can see the orange discoloration with the oily sheen to the right.

Park officials plan to have the Arlington County Fire Department investigate the discolorations on Monday, and I'll report their findings as soon as I hear them. ACE Executive Director Elenor Hodges tells me it's possible that what we saw is an orange algae that grows along parts of the stream (although that wouldn't explain the oily spot). Anyone recognize if this is it?

Another volunteer found an entire transmission embedded in the stream itself. Park rangers advised him to leave it in place, fearing an attempt to remove it could release the transmission's contents into the stream. You can see the transmission in the lower left of this photo. A longtime ACE volunteer told me it's not the first time car parts have been found in the stream below the Jiffy Lube, but it's hard to say where they came from since car parts are commonly found all over that stretch of stream.

Volunteers reported filling three large trash bags with oily towels and light blue rubber gloves -- the same color gloves worn by the Jiffy Lube workers. I don't have a photo of the scene (I wish the volunteers had given me a heads up about the towels and gloves before they'd picked them all up), but I walked behind the Jiffy Lube and saw several light blue gloves and towels on the Jiffy Lube property that abuts the stream bank, along with dozens of bottles and old coffee cups.

I talked briefly with the Jiffy Lube manager, but on a busy Saturday morning with a long line of customers, he seemed too frazzled to get into a long discussion. I told him what we'd found and gave him a heads up the county would be coming by to investigate.