Considering a Clean D.C.

Construction workers replace lead pipe in Northwest D.C. (Photo by Misha Bernard-Lucien)

WASHINGTON—With lead service lines posing major health risks to the residents in Washington, D.C., Bill 26-92 Lead-Free DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2025 was introduced on Jan. 29 to ensure that all lead service lines in D.C. are replaced with non-lead lines by Dec. 31, 2030.

Efforts to provide clean water in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area have been led by environmentally conscious groups such as DC Water and Dream.Org, with additional support from the Committee on Transportation and the Environment. Bill 26-92 was introduced by Councilmember Brooke Pinto and co-introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen, who also chairs the committee, along with several other councilmembers.

The Lead-Free DC Omnibus Amendment Act builds on earlier legislative efforts. It was first introduced in 2023 as a continuation of progress made through the progress through the Clean Energy Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018, which Mayor Muriel Bowser signed into law in 2019. That act marked a significant step forward in D.C.’s climate and environmental initiatives.

While steady progress has been made since then, replacing lead pipes across the city has been an ongoing challenge. Although the bill and DC Water operate separately, both aim to create a lead-free D.C., a process that has not always moved as smoothly as residents have hoped.

In 2024, residents participating in DC Water’s Lead-Free Initiative reported issues such as holes in walls, reduced water pressure, lawn damage and sink holes during pipe replacement work.

Photograph of DC Water (Photo by Misha Bernard-Lucien)

Efforts to interview Councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Charles Allen or their teams went unanswered, and attempts to speak with D.C. Water were unsuccessful.

Green for All Initiates Environmental Change in DMV Community

Jasmine Davenport speaks about Green For All. (Video by Misha Bernard-Lucien)

WASHINGTON—This year in July, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order inaugurating “a golden age” for a data center boom. These large-scale industrial facilities are raising concerns for green policy advocates like Dream.Org: Green For All. 

Green For All at Dream.Org provides programs that work towards creating environmental and economic benefits for the underrepresented public. Historically, low-income populations have been disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards, and in conversations surrounding clean energy funding, these communities are often overlooked.

The Senior Director of Green For All, Jasmine Davenport, said, “This goes back to redlining…they did not want us [Black people] in the neighborhoods where we could breathe easily, so we were destined to be put into neighborhoods where it was known that…[there] was bad environmental air quality.”

Jasmine Davenport

Senior Director for Dream.Org’s “Green For All”

Photo by Misha Bernard-Lucien

She continues, “Black women are predestined to early labor in birth…low birth rates, and premature babies.” Among many reasons, one “is because we’ve been breathing in air—bad air—for years.”