The exterior demolition of Building 9 – which sits on the DC General campus just 250 feet from where families are living at DC General – has briefly stopped after unsafe levels of lead were found in the ground just outside the building. However, despite refusing to provide a concrete reason for why there is such urgency to demolish Building 9 even while DC General remains occupied, the Bowser Administration has not yet agreed to stop the demolition until the families are all gone.
Over 1000 individuals and 50 organizations so far have signed a petition asking Mayor Bowser to halt demolition until the families in DC General are safely housed elsewhere. We will keep collecting names until Mayor Bowser changes her mind!
Here are a few updates:
- The DC Department of General Services (DGS) reported to the DC Council and to press late last week that they had found significant amounts of lead, way over legal thresholds, outside of Building 9 and that they are halting demolition until they have removed the lead. You can check out the Washington Post article that covers this development in the saga.
- Although it was documented that Building 9 had at one point contained lead and asbestos, the Bowser Administration has claimed for months that all lead had been removed and that demolishing it presents no risk. Councilmember Nadeau sent a letter dated August 7, 2018 laying out some of these problematic communications and asking them to stop the demolition until the families are out. The story has also been covered by Washington City Paper and Curbed DC.
- On August 9, 2018, seven Councilmembers sent a letter to Mayor Bowser, joining the call to halt demolition at the DC General campus while families remain at the shelter. The letter, which you can read here, was signed by Councilmembers Vince Gray (Ward 7), Trayon White, Sr. (Ward 8), Robert White, Jr. (At-Large), Elissa Silverman (At-Large), David Grosso (At-Large), Mary Cheh (Ward 3), and Charles Allen (Ward 6).
Here’s what you can do to keep the pressure up:
- If your organization wants to join the 50 organizations listed below, email Amber Harding at amber@legalclinic.org and get added to the list!
- Sign the petition as an individual, if you haven’t yet!
- Post the petition on Facebook, Twitter, list serves—or just ask 5 friends to sign!
- Tweet @MayorBowser with #StopDCGDemo.
- Whatever else you can think of!
Organizations
- ACLU of the District of Columbia
- Amara Legal Center
- Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization
- Ayuda
- Bread for the City
- Break the Cycle
- BYP 100
- Chesapeake Climate Action Network
- Children’s Law Center
- Collective Action for Safe Spaces
- DC Abortion Fund
- DC Action for Children
- DC Bar Pro Bono Center
- DC for Democracy
- DC for Reasonable Development
- DC Fiscal Policy Institute
- DC Hunger Solutions
- DC Law Students in Court
- DC Statehood Green Party
- DC Tenants’ Rights Center
- DV LEAP
- Empower DC
- Equal Rights Center
- Fair Budget Coalition
- The Father McKenna Center
- Good Faith Communities Coalition
- Homeless Children’s Playtime Project
- Jewish Voice for Peace DC Metro
- Jews United for Justice
- Justice First
- Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
- Legal Counsel for the Elderly
- LinkUp
- Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America
- National Coalition for the Homeless
- National Housing Law Project
- National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Network for Victim Recovery of DC
- ONE DC
- Positive Force DC
- The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Public Justice Center
- Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
- SOME, Inc. (So Others Might Eat)
- Stop Police Terror Project DC
- Tzedek DC
- Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
- Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
- We Are Family Senior Outreach Network