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Oxon Run Park is one of Washington’s hidden treasures. Photo: Andrew Lightman

In the real world all communities are not alike. Some are more livable than others. Some have access to political power and wealth. Others do not. East of the river in Washington, DC, race and class have been potent factors that sort people out into their respective environments.

Historically, notes Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, the paradox of community life East of the River in Washington DC is that great environmental injustices have existed side by side with some of the greatest green spaces in the city. With amazing municipal parklands that date back to the Civil War, people have had to fight against the tendency to view Wards 7 and 8 as dumping grounds for trash and people. The District government views, for the most part, green acreage east of the river more as vacant land than as parks. The problem of the future will be how to protect these green spaces from development as Wards 7 and 8 undergo economic revitalization.

These are the things that a gruff, pensive man named George Gurley knew. His view from River Terrace in Ward 7 did not look out on the sun-dappled Potomac with its affluent homes perched on bluffs near Chain Bridge or on the District Palisades. From his apartment, George Gurley looked out on the Anacostia River and the fields of Kenilworth Park that once had been a burning open dump that consumed the life of a young child. George Gurley knew things that people did not want to hear about – the high incidence of asthma in his community, the high incidences of cancer in his neighbors, the stench of the transfer station, the looming presence of the Pepco plant which for years had placed chemical waste in the river and added to the pollution of the air that children breathed. Until his recent death, Gurley testified, protested, and showed up at city meetings to bear witness to these conditions.

Gurley’s friends and allies in the District referred to him as an “urban protector” for his efforts to better the environment in Wards 7 and 8. Dianne Hampton, a civic activist in River Terrace, said the community “will continue to benefit from Gurley’s heroic advocacy.”

What he Did
Gurley organized a militant environmental group, Urban Protectors, and led the fight against the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) to prevent them from building two oil-fired turbine generators at the Benning Road plant. He also crusaded against the expansion of a waste transfer station in Ward 7 and fought the proposed building of the Barney Circle Freeway Project. These projects, George Gurley knew, would have a severe impact on the public health of residents east of the river.

George Gurley knew that he would have to risk arrest to get the DC Environmental Police to enforce laws against illegal dumping along Watts Branch. George Gurley always said, “if the folks who live in Georgetown lived at River Terrace, they would be raising Hell.” Thus, after a notable career in the United States Air Force, George Gurley found a second calling, the environment of his own neighborhood. In her comments at George Gurley’s memorial service, Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander said, “The environment [issue] started with George Gurley and we’ll continue the fight for environmental justice in Mr. Gurley’s honor.” Added Adrian Hasty of River Terrace, Gurley was “a front line person” who even late in his life was organizing peaceful protests against the Shell Hydrogen Station in Ward 7.

Recently things have changed for the better east of the river, says Steve Coleman, Director of Washington Parks and People. “We are getting the city to clean up parkland, repair sewage leaks, and show people how to reconnect with nature. We now have a chance to use nature to teach kids about life and how precious life is.” According to the National Park Service, over one million people visit Anacostia Park each year with its 1,271 acres of green space on both sides of the river from Kenilworth Gardens to the South Capitol Street Bridge. Thus, progress continues towards a green recovery east of the river.

Since 2004 Washington Parks and People has been active in extending George Gurley’s legacy and resolving urban environmental problems. Today teams of young conservationists, supported by the Anacostia Watershed Society are “expanding the green” of Marvin Gaye Park in Ward 7 and removing non-native plants at Fort Dupont Park in Ward 7 which is being rehabilitated by the National Park Service. With federal stimulus money, green teams in Ward 7 and Ward 8 are researching the historical context of their neighborhoods in order to rebuild environments that have declined over time. This is a base for the expansion of green tactics says Dennis Chestnut, Executive Director of Groundwork Anacostia River-DC, an organization geared to revitalizing communities along the river. Green tactics, east of the river, says Chestnut, are geared to produce jobs and to restore and maintain the urban environment. Many are small projects like pulling out invasive plants, mowing lawns or planting community gardens. “Sometimes the most important thing a person can do is simply plant some trees,” adds Rebecca Stamps of Lincoln Heights.

This past Earth Day, (April 22), the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, spoke at Marvin Gaye Park on the necessity of connecting the concept of human justice with our parklands and green spaces. He said, “In a place once strewn with trash, you planted over 750 trees. Where people once felt insecure and unsafe, they now feel a sense of community and of peace. This is the sort of change that Dr. King envisioned.” Holder added that Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in this park area in Ward 7 nearly a half century ago about his vision for the transformation of the country. “What has happened at Marvin Gaye Park is an embodiment of his dream.”

“Sometimes it is hard to focus on the environment when the problems of this recession are so overwhelming,” says Jackie Ward, a constituent service worker for Marion Barry in Ward 8. “You just can’t band-aid these problems. But in spite of it all, adds Ward, people have their environmental groups. “Here in Ward 8 we have a terrible asthma rate for children and adults too. We have no choice but to attack this problem. We have to take care of ourselves and show our kids the way,” says Ward. “We will be showing people how to plant gardens, how to clean up their community. We plan to use whatever stimulus funds we get from the federal government to rebuild our older communities.” Ward and residents east of the river are worried about tail pipe toxics in the air as heavily traveled major commuter highways bisect the Anacostia watershed. Recent medical reports by Environment Maryland, a non-profit advocacy group, show that every county in Maryland has unsafe levels of cancer-producing toxins from car emissions which cause 84% of the total air pollution. These pollutants are at toxic levels in the air that are ten times the EPA standard and are major factors in cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia. The implications for anyone suffering from asthma or pulmonary disorders are obvious, notes Ward. “We are going to show our people how changes in air and water quality affect them. These are concerns for everyone,” she said.

Jackie Ward’s current campaign is to expand green space at Oxon Run. At 130 acres, Oxon Run is the biggest municipal park in the District. “We are going to show people east of the river how Oxon Run can connect with schools and communities from Congress Heights to Washington Highlands down to Oxon Hill in Prince George’s County. This summer, we had 300 Green Job Apprentices working in Oxon Hill. We need more picnic grounds for our people. We need amphitheaters where people can be entertained out in a world of nature.” Jackie Ward is especially proud of the Oxon Run Community Alliance. “We have just awakened to the possibilities of nature in our community,” says Ward. “We have wild turkey, deer, and magnolia bogs right here in our community. Once Ward 8 was beautiful farmland. We now can do our best to restore nature as much as possible east of the river. When I first came here in 2000 Anacostia was considered a joke. Well, it’s not a joke anymore.”