There’s nothing like a magnolia tree to cover up sewage. Arlington County is slated to spend about $800,000 to landscape around a sewage treatment plant if the county board approves the contract Saturday.
The plan includes about $450,000 for flowers and trees of all shapes and sizes, about $50,000 for topsoil, $3,000 for dead tree removal, a $16,000 retaining wall and a $14,000 permeable walkway — a sidewalk that allows more rainwater to enter the soil instead of running off.
Customers will pay most of the landscaping costs through their water bills. The plant serves most of Arlington as well as parts of Alexandria and Fairfax.
Some neighbors expressed alarm at the price tag, especially in light of odors emanating from the plant.
“That’s a lot of money they can actually put to something better than that,” said Jon Stewart, who works at a gym near the plant. “If there was a way to stop that odor, I’d welcome that. I’m not sure if them putting in a lot of trees and plants will actually fix that.”
But others said the landscaping was necessary.
“I consider it something as that neighborhood deserves,” Charles Walter, president of the Arlington Ridge Civic Association, said. “They put up a with a lot.”
County board member Mary Hynes agreed.
The landscaping is part of $568 million worth of updates done to the plant over the last decade to increase its water capacity and comply with state and federal regulations.
“When you do these projects, you have to put a certain amount of money in restoration, and that’s what this is,” she said. “Something has to be done to keep the dirt from blowing around.”
Hynes and Water Pollution Control Bureau Chief Larry Slattery said environmental health was a top priority for the landscaping. Many parts of the plan, including a rain garden, aim to reduce polluted runoff.
Should the board approve the contract, workers will begin planting in August and continue until the first frost, Slattery said.
