The Anacostia River is known as the capital’s forgotten river. To many residents, they may have never seen it as it is way over younder in Southeast. But it is there, people live and work on its banks and the city, with its full attention on transforming the Anacostia waterfront, must deal with one sobering fact: the Anacostia is really, really polluted. WTOP reminds us how dirty, toxic and nasty the river is.

That runoff from exhaust, asphalt particles, spilled engine oil and other fossil fuel products is blamed for cancer among catfish. The road runoff altered the DNA of brown bullhead catfish, according to DNA analysis done by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Some of the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are formed from fossil fuels contain carcinogens.

Anyone want to go swimming? (Wait, don’t do that. It’s banned.)

>> The Post on the Anacostia’s “wretched” condition
>> The National Resources Defense Council on the river
>> The Chesapeake Bay Foundation on the river

Photo of a cancerous catfish from the USGS, via WTOP