Poplar Point Site is located within Anacostia Park, a unit of National Capital Parks-East, on the eastern bank of the Anacostia River.![]() NPS Photo Site HistoryPoplar Point Site was created in part by the filling of tidal marshes along the Anacostia River between 1882 and 1927. The Poplar Point area has undergone a variety of land uses since that time. In 2006, Congress enacted legislation (Public Law 109-396, commonly referred to as the DC Lands Act) directing the United States to transfer the Site to the District of Columbia (District), but the transfer is not yet complete. Currently, the NPS Headquarters for National Capital Parks-East, the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility (AOF), and the U.S. Park Police Aviation Unit facilities occupy a portion of the Site formerly occupied by the NRS. The former greenhouse and nursery areas are unused and vegetation has been allowed to grow naturally there. The Site also includes various storage buildings, wetlands, and meadows.
![]() NPS Photo Poplar Point Environmental InvestigationsSince the early 1990s, a number of environmental investigations have been performed at Poplar Point Site. Most of these investigations focused on the southwestern portion of the Site, in the areas formerly operated as nurseries and greenhouses. Those investigations identified metals, pesticides, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), petroleum hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Site soils above the screening level that may pose unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. In addition to the environmental investigations, abandoned drums and inactive underground and above ground storage tanks were removed from the Site. In September 2008, NPS and the District entered into a Consent Order under CERCLA, by which the District agreed to conduct a Remedial Investigation (RI) and Feasibility Study (FS) of the entire Poplar Point Site under the oversight of NPS. The RI will characterize the environmental conditions of the Site, and will include ecological and human health risk assessments. The FS will present a range of cleanup alternatives and evaluate those alternatives using prescribed criteria. Following completion of the RI and FS, a Proposed Plan identifying the preferred cleanup alternative will be issued for public review and comment. Community InvolvmentCommunity involvement is an important part of the CERCLA process and the public will have the opportunity to review and comment on proposed cleanup actions. NPS will prepare Community Updates to communicate the current status of the work being completed at the Site. The most recent Community Update was released in Fall 2018.Poplar Point Site DocumentsThe National Park Service maintains a record of all site related environmental investigations, ecological and human health risk assessments, community relations materials, public comments, as well as DOEE and NPS responses to significant comments. Find information about how to obtain site documents here.Contact InformationDonna DaviesCERCLA Project Manager Address: National Capital Parks-East 1900 Anacostia Drive, SE Washington, D.C. 20020 Email: donna_davies@nps.gov Phone: (202) 359-3234 Mon.-Fri. 9:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. ET |
Last updated: April 21, 2020