Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Expect mostly sunny skies with a high of about 78 degrees. Wednesday night remains mostly clear with temperatures dropping to around 55 degrees.
You need to know
Alexandria is one of the few cities in America where regulation of combined sewer systems are a household talking point
Alexandria’s roughly $615 million RiverRenew Project — some in federal and state grants — will completely overhaul its combined sewer systems in Old Town, but a pending Supreme Court case may challenge some of the regulations around them.
To be clear, while Alexandria leaders grumbled about the tight timeline forced on Alexandria initially, now that the project is thoroughly underway it’s mostly smiles and celebration of the project. Inside Climate News, however, said that while Alexandria has been tackling its combined sewer system problem head-on, San Francisco is instead suing the EPA over combined sewer system regulation.
The lawsuit alleges that federal water regulators failed to set specific enough limits on how much pollution local wastewater treatment and collection facilities can send into the Pacific Ocean. While San Francisco invested billions of dollars in infrastructure to meet the Clean Water Act requirements, the lawsuit San Francisco v. EPA alleges that the federal requirements are not specific enough.
E&E News noted that the National Mining Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers — not typically the kind of lobbying groups associated with mostly liberal San Francisco — filed amicus curiae briefs with the case.
Whatever the outcome of the case, Alexandria’s project is scheduled to be finished sometime before 2026. The requirements for Alexandria were state mandated, but the case could affect cities with combined sewer systems elsewhere.
Monday’s most read
The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for Aug 20, 2024.
- Scavenger hunt in Old Town celebrates Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824 return to America (772 views)
- Alexandria Police reminds drivers not to stop in front of ACHS for drop-off (770 views)
Upcoming events
Here is what’s going on today in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
- No events today. Have one to promote? Submit it to the calendar.
