Ivy City residents share their frustrations over chemical factory

WASHINGTON — We first told you about the environmental injustice struggles of Ivy City in a report that exposed how National Engineering Products and several nearby environmental stressors are impacting the air residents breathe.

The Environmental Protection Agency met with Ivy City residents to give their most recent update on the air sampling testing they’ve been conducting for the past two years.

“Even if we find that something isn’t an acute threat to public health that doesn’t mean that it’s not a nuisance and can affect the quality of life,” said Adam Ortiz, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator for the EPA.

The Associate Director of the DC Department of Energy and Environment, Hannah Ashenafi, also took to the mic. She presented new information to residents about an Odor Reduction Plan submitted by National Engineering Products (NEP).

“The reason why we are working with NEP is to try and get the odor reduction and emissions reductions as quickly as possible and the quickest way for us to do that is in collaboration with the facility.”

While the majority of the meeting was spent talking about NEP, they were noticeably absent from the conversation. The EPA told me they were invited to participate but chose to listen to the meeting virtually and anonymously.

Residents told us they were frustrated and left with more questions than answers.

“We want NEP gone. It’s not fair,” exclaimed Brenda Ingram, who previously shared her concerns with WUSA9.

Her neighbor, Andrenette Willis added, “I have a house I sit on the porch which I love to enjoy but I can’t because of the smell.”

WUSA9 was the first to report that DC Councilmember Zachary Parker proposed new legislation. The Ivy City Climate Resilience Hub Eminent Domain Authority Act of 2024 would give Mayor Bowser the authority to remove the chemical factory.

“We do think it’s a positive longer-term land use change solution and I would like to say that we really need to see more leadership from Mayor Bowser as well on environmental justice and tackling this issue of the over-concentration of pollution sources in these communities in ward 5,” says Parisa Norousi, the Executive Director of Empower DC.

Norousi adds that while residents are grateful to Zachary Parker for the legislation, it’s not an immediate solution and they are still urging city officials to act urgently to help protect residents.

If passed and National Engineer Products is seized through eminent domain, the location would become a climate resilience hub in Ivy City. Councilman Parker says Ivy City bears a large brunt of industrial pollution and the effects of climate are only exacerbating threats these residents are facing. By creating a climate resilience hub the hope is to accelerate plans for climate adaptation and create more green jobs.