I have a recap of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s quarterly meeting with National Park Service (NPS) that was held on November 16 sitting in my drafts, and I just received an update today from NPS regarding the ill-fated North Michgan Park-Fort Totten pedestrian trail between Gallatin and Galloway Street NE. Recall that the last update they gave residents stated that the redesign would be done in November 2022 (as in this month). Well, we are going to have to wait longer to see if this project will get done.
I cannot say I am surprised, but I remain confused about why there seems to so much confusion between NPS and Metro. I thought it was common knowledge that Metro’s green line tunnel at Fort Totten runs underneath the park between Gallatin and Galloway Street NE east and west of South Dakota Avenue, and I guess I thought NPS and Metro would have figured out how deep the tunnel was before NPS started digging (kind of like “call before you dig”). I guess not.
In the meantime, I do hope NPS and Metro will come to an agreement about keeping the edges of the parkland along Galloway Street clean.
Look for more emails in your inbox imploring residents not to use the “construction zone.” Seriously though, it is getting dark earlier, so be careful.
NPS message below:
Good Day Fort Totten community leaders and residents, please note this latest update on the project to construct a paved trail between Gallatin Street and Galloway Street NE, just east of Fort Totten.
As most are aware, the National Park Service stopped work on this project earlier this year– after uncovering a portion of the Metrorail’s green line tunnel during trail construction.
After a thorough review and subsequent discussions with engineers and additional engagement with WMATA, the National Park Service has determined that we will need to redesign the trail with a new alignment. It is our intent to issue a contract for this redesign later this year or early 2023.
If this can be done, we should have design completed in mid-2023. When funding is available, we will proceed with construction, but that may take some time, as we won’t know the costs of construction until we have a design completed. In the meantime, we will update you on a regular basis as we proceed with the design.
We ask again for the community’s patience as well as request neighbors/metro riders continue to detour around the trail construction site until the new trail is in place. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at kym_elder@nps.gov.
Sincerely,
Kym Elder
Program Manager
Civil War Defenses of Washington
Next Stop...Riggs Park 
I think it’s common knowledge to all of us who live in the area that the Green Line runs underneath the park. Ha! But who’s responsibility is it to clean up all of the litter along the Metro / Galloway St. sidewalk bordering the Park? NPS or Metro? It’s always a big mess and quite honestly, an embarrassment to the neighborhood – as are the destroyed and rusted out bus bays.
Dear Community,
The following is an excerpt from the Draft Minutes of January 12, 2021 of the [Spring Valley] Restoration Advisory Board (RAB). To see the entire document, access this link:
https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Portals/63/docs/SpringValley/Meeting_Packages/Spring Valley January 2021 RAB Conference Call Minutes.pdf?ver=TRfzh3dvylthVx16BJn5aw%3D%3D
The excerpt is as follows:
“Comment from Allen Hengst, Audience Member – Julie, I have got a question for you, but I do not think you can answer it. I put it in a chat box. I think Dan will be able to answer.
Question from A. Hengst, Audience Member – Question for Dan: As you may recall, soil excavated during the construction of the house at 4825 Glenbrook Road in the Nineties was initially taken to the Lorton Landfill in Virginia where it was rejected due to the odor. It was then trucked over to Fort Totten in northeast DC where it was also ultimately rejected by the Park Service as well.
In answer to a question about this event from Mary Douglas at the March 10th, 2020 RAB meeting, Dan Noble stated: “Both USACE Baltimore and DOEE investigated the removed debris [from 4825 Glenbrook Road] without success in determining the final location. It is known that the debris was sent to the Ft. Totten area when the nearby Ft. Totten metro station was being built. Soil was needed at the new Metro station to level out an equipment yard for the Metro contractor.
Some soil was sent to that area and the contractor began to spread the contaminated soil out. The area is Park Service land, lent to the Metro Authority for the construction project. The Park Service employee overseeing the land ordered that the contaminated soil be taken away. Eventually, the contaminated soil was taken away and the final destination of the soil is unknown.”
On July 25th, it was a reported in an UXO newsletter (link below) that a 75 mm “WWI-era” artillery shell was exposed by heavy rains at Fort Totten Park …
http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/index.cfm/2020/7/25/Artillery-ShellExposed-By-Heavy-Rains-In-Park
Can someone on the Spring Valley FUDS team please ascertain whether that recovered shell originated at AUES (American University Experiment Station)?
Question from D. Noble, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Spring Valley Project Manager – Is that a question, Allen, you just want us to read and get back to you on the answer?
Comment from A. Hengst, Audience Member – I put the rest of the question in, it is about an artillery shell from World War (WW)I that was found at Ft. Totten this summer. I put a link in to the article from the UXO Info Newsletter from July.
D. Noble explained that USACE was recently in communication with the National Park Service (NPS) on that issue. NPS is preparing to survey the area for any additional munitions. USACE is serving as a technical consultant for NPS on the project. NPS has hired a contractor and may have begun survey activities this week. The project plan is to complete the survey before allowing all of Ft. Totten Park to re-open. The survey will include an investigation for additional munitions and sampling the soil for contamination.
Question from A. Hengst, Audience Member – My question is, was the shell that was found this summer from AUES? Have you looked at the shell?
D. Noble explained that USACE inspected and obtained x-rays of the shell. The shell was found to be a 75mm with a hex plug. This type of munition was often found in Spring Valley. There is no absolute way to determine if the shell came from Spring Valley, but it is a possibility, since the shell is a WWI munition. Spring Valley is on the list of places that the shell may have originated from.
Question from A. Hengst, Audience Member – This is my last question about this. If it turns out to be a Spring Valley AUES munition, that is outside the Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) boundary. Will you be responsible for the clean-up, for the cost, for the (Ed. garbled] expense?
D. Noble explained that, at this time, NPS is taking the lead on the project and is responsible for the cost. Ft. Totten is also a separate FUDS site, so if a larger problem at the site is detected, USACE and NPS will be in communication to determine the lead on the work, how that work should proceed, and the responsibility for the cost. So, the answer is, ‘perhaps.’
Comment from A. Hengst, Audience Member – Thank you.”
As can be seen, the residents of Spring Valley enjoyed a more detailed discussion of how contaminated soil may have arrived at Fort Totten than the residents of North Michigan Park (NMP). NMP residents should not have to attend a meeting outside of our community to receive a full accounting of neighborhood issues.