October 1, 2021
The Potomac Electric Power Company opened the Alexandria power plant in 1949 to provide power to the Pentagon, parts of Maryland and the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington.
Stories this photo appears in:
Contaminated Legacy
From slave plantation to industrial pollution, a hidden history of North Old Town.
The shuttered power plant dominating the landscape in North Old Town has layers of industrial pollution, a hidden history buried under the contaminated soil of the Potomac River Generating Station. Even before the coal-fired power plant was constructed in 1949, the property was home to the American Chlorophyll Company and Potomac River Clay Works. That means the long and complicated task known as "remediating" the property could mean removing everything from coal ash and mercury to industrial fertilizer and hazardous metals.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID