WASHINGTON NAVY YARD

Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic organic pollutants derived from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and industrial processes that persist in the environment and bioaccumulate in aquatic organisms. The Washington Navy Yard's discharge into the Piedmont Uplands' freshwater streams and rivers poses severe risks to these sensitive systems, which depend on clear water and stable substrates for native fish, benthic macroinvertebrates, and riparian vegetation adapted to moderate-gradient flowing waters. Continued PAH discharges at these extreme levels (up to 35,934% above permit limits) will cause acute toxicity in aquatic life, suppress immune function and reproductive success in fish species, contaminate sediments with carcinogenic compounds, and bioaccumulate through food webs to impact predatory birds and mammals dependent on aquatic resources in this historically productive ecoregion.