DC councilmember releases report on District Dogs investigation

WASHINGTON — A D.C. councilmember released a report on his findings from his investigation into the tragic flooding at District Dogs earlier this month that left 10 dogs dead.

Ward 5 Councilmember Zackary Parker released the 24-page report which outlines several of the reasons as to why that tragedy happened at the animal day care near Rhode Island Avenue.

The report says D.C. lacks a comprehensive strategy to reduce the cumulative environmental burdens placed on Wards 5, 7, and 8. Those burdens include the concentration of industrial land and large roads that make flooding like we experienced on Aug. 14, more likely and more dangerous.

Rhode Island Avenue has experienced significant flooding on numerous occasions, but District agencies lacked operational awareness of that context. 

The Office of Unified Communications (OUC), the agency that runs the 911 system, and Fire and EMS lacked protocol and a dispatch code for a flood rescue inside a building. 

The report also states that stormwater runoff capacity was insufficient. 

This fall, Parker plans to introduce legislation that will prevent District agencies from taking actions that impose new environmental injustices on overburdened communities.

>Read the full report below:

Families impacted sent a letter to Mayor Bowser on Wednesday demanding she meet with them.