Tests of water samples from the Potomac River are reporting dangerously high levels of E. coli following a rupture in a sewage pipe upstream from Arlington.
The Potomac Riverkeeper Network recorded bacteria levels 60 times higher than what is considered safe for human contact in a sample taken at Fletchers Cove on Friday, the organization announced in a press release yesterday (Monday). This is in D.C., across the river from Potomac Overlook Regional Park.
Concerns about monitoring and managing chemicals at Arlington County’s Water Pollution Control Plant have prompted a public hearing this week.
The hearing is a follow-up to a public comment period last September and October, where advocates sought amendments to the draft permit related to limitations and best management practices for PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), also known as “forever chemicals.”
The county government’s arborist is pushing back on accusations that an iconic tree was removed needlessly from a Lyon Park median.
But local residents aghast at the removal aren’t letting the county government off the hook for its actions.
Staff and volunteers at Virginia Cooperative Extension put on a showcase of the year gone by and plans for the future last week.
From healthier meals to more energy-efficient living, those serving Arlington out of the Fairlington Community Center shared their experience helping thousands of local residents this year and every year.
A key county advisory panel likes the proposal to ban gas-powered leaf blowers countywide, but doesn’t want to get too far into the weeds on specifics right now.
Members of the Arlington Park and Recreation Commission on Oct. 28 agreed to send a letter to County Board members, expressing support for the concept of outlawing gas blowers.
With leaves falling along with autumn temperatures, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia is pleading with local property owners not to rake and remove all their leaves from yards.
“There are many ways you can use them rather than sending them to the landfill,” said Claudia Gerwin, who on Oct. 3 led an online program for Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Arlington-Alexandria office.
County leaders are seeking public input on how long a transition period to allow if Arlington ends up phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers.
Nationwide, most jurisdictions that have imposed bans on gas-powered blowers have provided an interim period to educate the public and to allow professional firms and homeowners to acquire the correct equipment.
A new orchard at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School is already producing fruit after surviving an unusually dry August.
All the saplings planted in the spring survived the summer, making it likely they will have long-term viability, said Mary Glass of the Arlington Tree Connection advocacy group.
Arlington homeowners have until next week to apply to get a free native tree or shrub this fall.
Applications for EcoAction Arlington’s biannual Tree Planting Program and Tree Canopy Equity Program close next Monday, June 23. The nonprofit plans to plant 200 trees and 50 shrubs across the county.
County officials say a modest state grant will go a long way to supporting local first-responders after traumatic incidents.
Board members at their Saturday (June 14) meeting accepted a $30,000 Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services grant that will provide more training for those who help police, fire, sheriff and other public-safety personnel after incidents like January’s aircraft collision near Reagan National Airport.
Anti-Trump protesters mobilized in force across Arlington today (Saturday) as part of nationwide “No Kings Day” demonstrations ahead of the military parade in D.C.
Waving signs, banners and American flags, they cheered from overpasses and chanted outside the Clarendon Metro station. An estimated 5,000 people lined long stretches of Langston Blvd from Rosslyn to Falls Church, in an attempt to form an enormous, 5.2-mile “human chain.”
The Arlington Outdoor Lab is expected to grow by 85 acres through the purchase of an adjacent tract in Fauquier County.
The Arlington Outdoor Education Association’s (AOEA) purchase will increase the lab’s current 226 acres by over a third.
