A Washington, DC, developer has been ordered to pay $200,000 and permanently protect local wetlands after state investigators uncovered an illegal operation that drained protected ecosystems and polluted the Anacostia River, per the Washington Informer.
The DC attorney general’s office announced that residences at Kenilworth Park, LLC (RKP) — a subsidiary of Gragg Cardona Souadi — violated multiple environmental laws while constructing an assisted living complex at 1650 Kenilworth Avenue NE. Between 2020 and 2022, the company installed more than 200 unauthorized groundwater extraction wells, pumped millions of gallons of water from the site each day, and discharged untreated wastewater into city storm drains — contaminating the nearby river.
According to officials, the illegal activity dried out more than two acres of federally protected wetlands near Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and repeatedly exceeded pollution limits without disclosure…