EPA RCRA ID: DC8470090004

Disclaimer / Legal Notices

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is the public law that creates the framework for the proper management of hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. Corrective action is a requirement under RCRA that facilities that treat, store or dispose of hazardous wastes, or did so in the past, investigate and clean up hazardous releases into soil, groundwater, surface water and air. For more information, and for more information on RCRA-specific terms used on this page, please visit EPA’s umbrella RCRA web page or EPA’s RCRA Corrective Action page.

On this page:

Cleanup Activities
Facility Description
Institutional/Engineering Controls
Enforcement and Compliance
Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records
Contacts for this Facility

Cleanup Activities

The US General Services Administration-National Capital Region (GSA) is directing the redevelopment of a 55-acre property located on the banks of the Anacostia River in S.E. Washington, DC. The undeveloped portion of the property is named the Southeast Federal Center (SEFC). The redeveloped portion of the former SEFC is called ‘The Yards’ and is mostly privately owned.

The property is cleaned-up parcel by parcel, prior to redevelopment construction.

Currently, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action activities at this facility are being conducted under two EPA 7003 Consent Orders. In 1998, GSA began investigating and remediating contamination under a Consent Decree administered by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of a number of plaintiffs. On July 14, 1999, EPA issued GSA an Administrative Order under Section 3013 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to identify contaminated areas and take interim measures to abate Site contamination. A Section 7003 Order was negotiated with GSA in 2014 to streamline and complete the clean-up already underway at the SEFC. The 2014 Order covers all the initial SEFC land except for the U.S. DOT Parcel, Parcel D, Parcel M, Parcel K, and Parcel P.

In 2024, Parcel E was transferred from the GSA to the Navy, and EPA entered a separate Section 7003 Order with the Navy to complete the clean-up of Parcel E.

The SEFC was divided into 15 parcels for redevelopment.

Fuel released from a former offsite Shell gas station remains in groundwater below the DOT Parcel. EPA’s 2005 remedy selection for the DOT Parcel memorialized the need to clean-up groundwater at the DOT Parcel. Shell Oil Company is cleaning up its release to groundwater at the DOT Parcel under a 2009 Settlement Agreement between the GSA and the Shell Oil Company.

Except for the areas designated “Area 1” and “Area 2” of Parcel P, some contamination remains in soil below Parcel P. As a result, EPA’s 2010 remedy decision for Parcel P memorialized the need to record an environmental covenant to restrict subsurface activities, land use, and groundwater at Parcel P. As of May 2025, an environmental covenant has not yet been executed for Parcel P.

In June 2015, EPA issued a Statement of Basis (SB) detailing the SEFC Site history and providing the 'basis' for EPA's proposed final Remedy Decision for Parcels A, E, F, G, H, I, L, 0 and Q. EPA's Final Remedy Decision for these parcels was signed in July 2015 after public comment closed. The SB and Final Remedy Decision for these Parcels can be found in the "Additional Site Information" under the "Documents, Reports and Photographs.

Since then, the GSA has cleaned up Parcels G, I, L, and 0, and most of Parcel H.

Soil excavation at Parcel H was completed in 2023. During the excavation, trichloroethylene (TCE) was discovered in deep soils. Contaminated soil was removed to the extent possible within construction constraints, for the ten-story building under construction. Corrective measures were implemented to prevent the potential for vapors from the remaining contamination to enter the below ground garage. Future sampling is planned to verify indoor air is protective of human health, and to evaluate potential impacts to groundwater.

During the clean-up of Parcel H, chromium was discovered in concrete being used in small areas (tie backs) to support the exterior soil walls during excavation. Following the discovery, a different concrete was used. Future sampling is planned to evaluate groundwater impacts, if any, from the chromium laden concrete.

Cleanup Actions or environmental indicators characterizing the entire facility are shown below. This listing, and all the data on this page, come from EPA’s RCRAInfo and are refreshed nightly to this page. For this table, a blank in the Status column could mean the action either has not occurred or has not been reported in RCRAInfo.

Cleanup Activities Pertaining to the Entire Facility

Action	Status	Date of Action
(CA725)
(CA750)
(CA400)
(CA550)
(CA800)
(CA900)
(CA999)

^{For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.}

Cleanup Activities Pertaining to a Portion of the Facility

	Action	Area Name	Date of Action

^{For definitions of the terms used, hover over or click on the term.}

Facility Description

Link to a larger, interactive view of the map.

The SEFC was created in 1963, when the Washington Navy Yard (WNY) transferred 55-acres to GSA for redevelopment. The 55-acres had previously been used for shipbuilding (1800’s) and was later heavily industrialized by ordnance (gun) manufacturing up through WWII.

Institutional and Engineering Controls at this Facility

The properties at the SEFC are supplied by the public water utility. Groundwater use for drinking water is prohibited through property deeds. The properties at the SEFC are supplied by the public water utility. Groundwater use for drinking water is prohibited through property deeds. Other engineering and institutional controls are in place for Parcels H and P.

Institutional and Engineering Controls help ensure human exposure and groundwater migration are under control at a cleanup facility. Where control types have been reported by states and EPA in EPA’s RCRAInfo, they are shown below. Not all control types are needed at all facilities, and some facilities do not require any controls. Where there are blanks, the control types may not be needed, may not be in place, or may not be reported in RCRAInfo.

Are Controls in Place at this Facility?

Control(s) Type		Control(s) in Place?	Areas Subject to Control(s)
(CA 772)	(ID)
	(GC)
	(EP)
	(PR)
(CA 770)	(GW)
(CA 770)

Enforcement and Compliance at this Facility

EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) provides detailed historical information about enforcement and compliance activities at each RCRA Corrective Action Site in their Enforcement and Compliance Historical Online (ECHO) system.

RCRA Enforcement and Compliance Reports from ECHO

Related Information and Publicly Available Electronic Records

For more information about this facility, see these other EPA links:

RCRA information in EPA’s Envirofacts database
Information about this facility submitted to EPA under different environmental programs as reported in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
Alternative Names for this facility as reported by EPA programs in EPA’s Facility Registry Services
Cleanups in My Community provides an interactive map to see EPA cleanups in context with additional data, and lists for downloading data
Search RCRA Corrective Action Sites provides a search feature for Corrective Action Sites

Documents, Photos and Graphics

Contacts for this Facility

EPA Region implements and enforces the RCRA Corrective Action program for and federally recognized tribes.

For further information on this corrective action site, use the Contact Information for Corrective Action Hazardous Waste Clean Ups listings that are accessible through Corrective Action Programs around the Nation.

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