The Benning Road Power Plant was a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

owned by

PEPCO The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C., and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan ...

and located in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The 19-acre facility was built in 1906, and underwent several changes before being demolished in 2012. The facility was powered by coal until 1976, when it was converted to petroleum. By the early 2000s, the facility was capable of producing 550 megawatts of electricity and operated for an average of 10–15 days per year.

Environmental impact

The plant's location in a largely African American and low-income portion of Northeast, Washington, D.C. raised

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

concerns for decades. The Plant produced air pollution that negatively affected neighboring communities. The facility also contributed to water pollution in the neighboring

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...

, releasing PCBs, lead, iron, cadmium, zinc, and other hazardous materials into the waterway. In 2011, PEPCO entered into a

consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...

with the government of Washington DC due to the company's years of releases of PCBs into the river. In 2017, PEPCO agreed to pay regulators $1.6 million for violations of the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the primary respo ...

Redevelopment

In 2014, the plant was stripped of hazardous materials and then demolished, leaving a 19-acre undeveloped riverfront site in a dense urban area. The facility was extremely close to the

Minnesota Avenue station Minnesota Avenue station is an island-platformed Washington Metro station in the Central Northeast/Mahaning Heights neighborhood of Northeast Washington, D.C., United States. The station was opened on November 20, 1978, and is operated by ...

. There have been calls for the site to be converted into a use that is beneficial to the community.

References

{{reflist Power stations in Washington, D.C. Northeast (Washington, D.C.) Buildings and structures demolished in 2012 Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.