As Fairfax County becomes more densely populated, there
are more opportunities for one public amenity to pose a threat to another.
In response to a mid-September public meeting on the
planned expansion of Martha Washington Library, Friends of Dyke Marsh President
Glenda Booth sent a letter to the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and
other offices expressing her organization’s concerns about the project’s impact
on the nearby, nationally recognized wetland.
The 380-acre Dyke Marsh lies along the Potomac River, just
east of the library, and the local watershed runs downhill past the library to
the marsh, which is already in need of restoration. In an interview, Booth said
the marsh was excavated for gravel from the 1930s into the ’50s and then used as
a dumping ground for construction debris in the ’60s.
A massive congressional bill that would have, among many
other, larger projects, authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to accept funds
from the National Park Service to restore the marsh was recently vetoed by
President George Bush.
In her letter, Booth thanked the county for its community
outreach efforts regarding the library expansion and for seeking a Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building designation, and she
offered suggestions for mitigating the library’s effect on Dyke Marsh. Since the
size of the building and parking lot are expected to increase significantly, she
urged that as much storm water as possible be retained onsite with rain gardens,
rain barrels, green roofs and pervious pavement.
The letter also urges the county not to destroy mature
trees on the site, to plant more trees, to use native vegetation and natural
landscaping, and to integrate the project into the upcoming Belle Haven
Watershed Plan. It raises the question of how large the parking lot needs to be
at a location on two bus lines and within walking distance of many homes,
apartments and condominiums and asks that the county strive for a LEED rating
higher than silver.
“Most runoff around here carries pollutants from roads and
parking lots,” Booth said in an interview. She noted that fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides also are often swept into the flow and that the runoff
can erode stream banks while piling up sediment.
Martha Washington Library Branch Manager Barbara Rice said
the county planned to expand the building from about 12,000 to about 17,000
square feet because the book collection and technology had outgrown its home.
Because it is one of the oldest Fairfax County libraries, she said, “the
technology wasn’t in existence when it was built.” Rice said the new building
would include more computer stations and a “better configuration” for the
library collection.
SHE SAID THE LIBRARY was planned to close in late
2008 for a 16- to 18-month renovation, “if things are still on track.”
Meanwhile, the staff will be sent to Sherwood Regional Library, which is where
the public will also be directed. “We’re about halfway through the process,” she
said, noting that the intention to expand the library was announced in 2000, and
the money for the project came from the 2004 library bond referendum. Rice said
designs for the renovated library still need to be created before the permitting
process begins.
Fairfax County spokesman Brian Worthy said the county had
received Booth’s letter, “and we are exploring things that we can do to address
some of the concerns.” He noted that the county is designing the building to
meet the criteria for a silver LEED rating and taking steps to manage storm
water, where no such measures are in place now.
Worthy said rain gardens would be created and runoff
filtered and that the option of permeable pavement was being explored. The use
of native vegetation, he said, is a Fairfax County standard. Some mature trees
would have to come down, but the county will be planting new ones, said Worthy.
“It’s being built in a very environmentally conscientious way.”
Dyke Marsh is home to about 18,000 species of organisms, a
population Booth called “very diverse.” She noted that it is the only known
nesting ground on the upper Potomac River for marsh wrens. The river, she said,
was once lined with such marshes, making Dyke Marsh “a rare remanent.” If runoff
into the marsh increases, she said, “it will be another assault that would have
to be addressed” in the restoration process.
Austin Durrer, spokesman for the office of U.S. Rep. Jim
Moran (D-8), said Moran and others planned to override the president’s veto of
the bill authorizing the restoration this week. “It looks like we’re going to
reach the two-thirds majority necessary,” he said. The Dyke Marsh restoration
was a minor part of what Durrer called “a huge bill,” including reauthorization
for water infrastructure nationwide.
Booth noted that the National Park Service is already in
the initial stages of creating an environmental impact statement for a project
that could restore up to 300 acres of the marsh.
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