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Exxon Valdez oil spill
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Exxon Valdez oil spill
Three days after Exxon Valdez ran aground
Location
Prince William Sound, Alaska
Coordinates
60°50′27″N 146°51′45″W / 60.8408°N 146.8625°W / 60.8408; -146.8625Coordinates: 60°50′27″N 146°51′45″W / 60.8408°N 146.8625°W / 60.8408; -146.8625
Date
March 24, 1989; 28 years ago (1989-03-24)
Cause
Cause
Grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker
Operator
Exxon Shipping Company
Spill characteristics
Volume
10.8×10^6 US gal (260,000 bbl; 41,000 m3)
Area
11,000 sq mi (28,000 km2)
Shoreline impacted
1,300 mi (2,100 km)
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef at 12:04 am[1][2] local time and spilled 10.8 million US gallons (260,000 bbl; 41,000 m3) of crude oil over the next few days.[3] It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters.[4] The Valdez spill is the second largest in US waters, after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in terms of volume released.[5] Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by helicopter, plane, or boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing response plans. The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals and seabirds. The oil, originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, eventually covered 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of coastline,[3] and 11,000 square miles (28,000 km2) of ocean.[6][7]
According to official reports, the ship was carrying 53.09451 million US gallons (1,264,155 bbl; 200,984.6 m3) of oil, of which about 10.8 million US gallons (260,000 bbl; 41,000 m3) were spilled into the Prince William Sound.[1][8] An approximate figure of 11 million US gallons (260,000 bbl; 42,000 m3) was a commonly accepted estimate of the spill's volume and has been used by the State of Alaska's Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council,[3] the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.[5][9][10]
During the first few days of the spill, heavy sheens of oil covered large areas of the surface of Prince William Sound.
Multiple factors have been identified as contributing to the incident:
Beginning three days after the vessel grounded, a storm pushed large quantities of fresh oil on to the rocky shores of many of the beaches in the Knight Island chain.[11] In this photograph, pooled black oil is shown stranded in the rocks
Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for Exxon Valdez. The NTSB found this was widespread throughout the industry, prompting a safety recommendation to Exxon and to the industry.[12]
The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or excessive workload.[12]
Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance System (RAYCAS) radar, which, if functional, would have indicated to the third mate an impending collision with the Bligh Reef by detecting the "radar reflector", placed on the next rock inland from Bligh Reef for the purpose of keeping ships on course. This cause has only been identified by Greg Palast (without evidentiary support) and is not present in the official accident report.[13]
Captain Joseph Hazelwood, who was widely reported to have been drinking heavily that night, was not at the controls when the ship struck the reef. However, as the senior officer, he was in command of the ship even though he was asleep in his bunk. In light of the other findings, investigative reporter Greg Palast stated in 2008, "Forget the drunken skipper fable. As to Captain Joe Hazelwood, he was below decks, sleeping off his bender. At the helm, the third mate never would have collided with Bligh Reef had he looked at his RAYCAS radar. But the radar was not turned on. In fact, the tanker's radar was left broken and disabled for more than a year before the disaster, and Exxon management knew it. It was just too expensive to fix and operate."[14] Exxon blamed Captain Hazelwood for the grounding of the tanker.[13]
Other factors, according to an MIT course entitled "Software System Safety" by Professor Nancy G. Leveson,[15] included:
Ships were not informed that the previous practice of the Coast Guard tracking ships out to Bligh Reef had ceased.[16]
The oil industry promised, but never installed, state-of-the-art iceberg monitoring equipment.[17]
Exxon Valdez was sailing outside the normal sea lane to avoid small icebergs thought to be in the area.[17]
The 1989 tanker crew was half the size of the 1977 crew, worked 12- to 14-hour shifts, plus overtime. The crew was rushing to leave Valdez with a load of oil.[18]
Coast Guard vessel inspections in Valdez were not performed, and the number of staff was reduced.[18]
Lack of available equipment and personnel hampered the spill cleanup.[16]
This disaster resulted in International Maritime Organization introducing comprehensive marine pollution prevention rules (MARPOL) through various conventions. The rules were ratified by member countries and, under International Ship Management rules, the ships are being operated with a common objective of "safer ships and cleaner oceans".[19]
In 2009, Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood offered a "heartfelt apology" to the people of Alaska, suggesting he had been wrongly blamed for the disaster: "The true story is out there for anybody who wants to look at the facts, but that's not the sexy story and that's not the easy story," he said. Hazelwood said he felt Alaskans always gave him a fair shake.[20]
Contents
[hide]
1 Clean-up and environmental impact
2 Litigation and cleanup costs
3 Political consequences and reforms
3.1 Coast Guard report
3.2 Oil Pollution Act of 1990
3.3 Alaska regulations
4 Economic and personal impact
5 Reactions
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Clean-up and environmental impact[edit]
Workers using high-pressure, hot-water washing to clean an oiled shoreline
Chemical dispersant, a surfactant and solvent mixture, was applied to the slick by a private company on March 24 with a helicopter. But the helicopter missed the target area. Scientific data on its toxicity were either thin or incomplete. In addition, public acceptance of a new, widespread chemical treatment was lacking. Landowners, fishing groups, and conservation organizations questioned the use of chemicals on hundreds of miles of shoreline when other alternatives may have been available."[21][22][22][23]
According to a report by David Kirby for TakePart, the main component of the Corexit formulation used during cleanup, 2-butoxyethanol, was identified as "one of the agents that caused liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders among cleanup crews in Alaska following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.[24]
Mechanical cleanup was started shortly afterwards using booms and skimmers, but the skimmers were not readily available during the first 24 hours following the spill, and thick oil and kelp tended to clog the equipment. Despite civilian insistence for a complete clean, only 10% of total oil was actually completely cleaned.[1] Exxon was widely criticized for its slow response to cleaning up the disaster and John Devens, the mayor of Valdez, has said his community felt betrayed by Exxon's inadequate response to the crisis.[25] More than 11,000 Alaska residents, along with some Exxon employees, worked throughout the region to try to restore the environment.
Clean-up efforts after the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Because Prince William Sound contained many rocky coves where the oil collected, the decision was made to displace it with high-pressure hot water. However, this also displaced and destroyed the microbial populations on the shoreline; many of these organisms (e.g. plankton) are the basis of the coastal marine food chain, and others (e.g. certain bacteria and fungi) are capable of facilitating the biodegradation of oil. At the time, both scientific advice and public pressure was to clean everything, but since then, a much greater understanding of natural and facilitated remediation processes has developed, due somewhat in part to the opportunity presented for study by the Exxon Valdez spill. Despite the extensive cleanup attempts, less than ten percent of the oil was recovered and a study conducted by NOAA determined that as of early 2007 more than 26 thousand U.S. gallons (98 m3) of oil remain in the sandy soil of the contaminated shoreline, declining at a rate of less than 4% per year.[26][27]
Wildlife was severely affected by the oil spill.
Both the long-term and short-term effects of the oil spill have been studied.[28] Immediate effects included the deaths of 100,000 to as many as 250,000 seabirds, at least 2,800 sea otters, approximately 12 river otters, 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles, and 22 orcas, and an unknown number of salmon and herring.[8][29]
In 2003, fourteen years after the spill, a team from the University of North Carolina found that the remaining oil was lasting far longer than anticipated, which in turn had resulted in more long-term loss of many species than had been expected. The researchers found that at only a few parts per billion, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons caused a long-term increase in mortality rates. They reported that "species as diverse as sea otters, harlequin ducks and killer whales suffered large, long-term losses and that oiled mussel beds and other tidal shoreline habitats will take an estimated 30 years to recover."[30]
In 2006, a study done by the National Marine Fisheries Service in Juneau found that about 6 miles (9.7 km) of shoreline around Prince William Sound was still affected by the spill, with 101.6 tonnes of oil remaining in the area. Exxon Mobil denied any concerns over any remaining oil, stating that they anticipated a remaining fraction that they assert will not cause any long-term ecological impacts, according to the conclusions of the studies they had done: "We've done 350 peer-reviewed studies of Prince William Sound, and those studies conclude that Prince William Sound has recovered, it's healthy and it's thriving."[31] However, in 2007 a NOAA study concluded that this contamination can produce chronic low-level exposure, discourage subsistence where the contamination is heavy, and decrease the "wilderness character" of the area.[27]
The effects of the spill continued to be felt for many years afterwards. As of 2010 there were an estimated 23,000 US gallons (87 m3) of Valdez crude oil still in Alaska's sand and soil, breaking down at a rate estimated at less than 4% per year.[32]
On March 24, 2014, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the spill, NOAA scientists reported that some species seem to have recovered, with the sea otter the latest creature to return to pre-spill numbers. Scientists who have monitored the spill area for the last 25 years report that concern remains for one of two pods of local orca whales, with fears that one pod may eventually die out.[33] Federal scientists estimate that between 16,000 and 21,000 US gallons (61 to 79 m3) of oil remains on beaches in Prince William Sound and up to 450 miles (725 km) away. Some of the oil does not appear to have biodegraded at all. A USGS scientist who analyses the remaining oil along the coastline states that it remains among rocks and between tide marks. "The oil mixes with seawater and forms an emulsion...Left out, the surface crusts over but the inside still has the consistency of mayonnaise – or mousse."[34] Alaska state senator Berta Gardner is urging Alaskan politicians to demand that the US government force ExxonMobil to pay the final $92 million (£57 million) still owed from the court settlement. The major part of the money would be spent to finish cleaning up oiled beaches and attempting to restore the crippled herring population.[34]
Litigation and cleanup costs[edit]
Eagles rescued from the oil spill
In the case of Exxon v. Baker, an Anchorage jury awarded $287 million for actual damages and $5 billion for punitive damages. To protect itself in case the judgment was affirmed, Exxon obtained a $4.8 billion credit line from J.P. Morgan & Co. J.P. Morgan created the first modern credit default swap in 1994, so that Morgan's would not have to hold as much money in reserve (8% of the loan under Basel I) against the risk of Exxon's default.[35]
Meanwhile, Exxon appealed the ruling, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the original judge, Russel Holland, to reduce the punitive damages. On December 6, 2002, the judge announced that he had reduced the damages to $4 billion, which he concluded was justified by the facts of the case and was not grossly excessive. Exxon appealed again and the case returned to court to be considered in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling in a similar case, which caused Judge Holland to increase the punitive damages to $4.5 billion, plus interest.[citation needed]
After more appeals, and oral arguments heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on January 27, 2006, the damages award was cut to $2.5 billion on December 22, 2006. The court cited recent Supreme Court rulings relative to limits on punitive damages.[36]
Exxon appealed again. On May 23, 2007, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied ExxonMobil's request for a third hearing and let stand its ruling that Exxon owes $2.5 billion in punitive damages. Exxon then appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.[37] On February 27, 2008, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for 90 minutes. Justice Samuel Alito, who at the time, owned between $100,000 and $250,000 in Exxon stock, recused himself from the case.[38] In a decision issued June 25, 2008, Justice David Souter issued the judgment of the court, vacating the $2.5 billion award and remanding the case back to the lower court, finding that the damages were excessive with respect to maritime common law. Exxon's actions were deemed "worse than negligent but less than malicious."[39] The punitive damages were further reduced to an amount of $507.5 million.[40] The Court's ruling was that maritime punitive damages should not exceed the compensatory damages,[40] supported by a peculiar precedent dating back from 1818.[41] Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy has decried the ruling as "another in a line of cases where this Supreme Court has misconstrued congressional intent to benefit large corporations."[42]
Exxon's official position was that punitive damages greater than $25 million were not justified because the spill resulted from an accident, and because Exxon spent an estimated $2 billion cleaning up the spill and a further $1 billion to settle related civil and criminal charges. Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound."[43]
Exxon recovered a significant portion of clean-up and legal expenses through insurance claims associated with the grounding of the Exxon Valdez.[44][45] Also, in 1991, Exxon made a quiet, separate financial settlement of damages with a group of seafood producers known as the Seattle Seven for the disaster's effect on the Alaskan seafood industry. The agreement granted $63.75 million to the Seattle Seven, but stipulated that the seafood companies would have to repay almost all of any punitive damages awarded in other civil proceedings. The $5 billion in punitive damages was awarded later, and the Seattle Seven's share could have been as high as $750 million if the damages award had held. Other plaintiffs have objected to this secret arrangement,[46] and when it came to light, Judge Holland ruled that Exxon should have told the jury at the start that an agreement had already been made, so the jury would know exactly how much Exxon would have to pay.[47]
As of December 15, 2009, Exxon paid all owed $507.5 million punitive damages, including lawsuit costs, plus interest, which were further distributed to thousands of plaintiffs.[48]
In October 1989, Exxon filed suit against the State of Alaska, charging that the government had interfered with Exxon's attempts to clean up the spill by refusing to approve the use of dispersant chemicals until the night of the 26th. The government disputed the claim, stating that there was a long-standing agreement to allow the use of dispersants to clean up spills, thus Exxon did not require permission to use them, and that in fact Exxon had not had enough dispersant on hand to effectively handle a spill of the size created by the Valdez.[49] Exxon filed claims in October 1990 against the Coast Guard, asking to be reimbursed for cleanup costs and damages awarded to plaintiffs in any lawsuits filed by the State of Alaska or the Federal Government against Exxon. The company claimed that the Coast Guard was "wholly or partially responsible" for the spill, because they had granted mariners' licenses to the crew of the Valdez, and because they had given the Valdez permission to leave regular shipping lanes to avoid ice. They also reiterated the claim that the Coast Guard had delayed cleanup by refusing to give permission to use chemical dispersants on the spill immediately.[50]
Political consequences and reforms[edit]
The Oil Spill Recovery Institute was formed after United States Congress approved it to seek a solution. Collaborating with InnoCentive they found a partial solution for the flow of oil.[51]
Coast Guard report[edit]
A report by the US National Response Team summarized the event and made a number of recommendations, such as changes to the work patterns of Exxon crew in order to address the causes of the accident.[1]
Oil Pollution Act of 1990[edit]
In response to the spill, the United States Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). The legislation included a clause that prohibits any vessel that, after March 22, 1989, has caused an oil spill of more than 1 million US gallons (3,800 m3) in any marine area, from operating in Prince William Sound.[52]
In April 1998, the company argued in a legal action against the Federal government that the ship should be allowed back into Alaskan waters. Exxon claimed OPA was effectively a bill of attainder, a regulation that was unfairly directed at Exxon alone.[53] In 2002, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Exxon. As of 2002, OPA had prevented 18 ships from entering Prince William Sound.[54]
OPA also set a schedule for the gradual phase in of a double hull design, providing an additional layer between the oil tanks and the ocean. While a double hull would likely not have prevented the Valdez disaster, a Coast Guard study estimated that it would have cut the amount of oil spilled by 60 percent.[55]
The Exxon Valdez supertanker was towed to San Diego, arriving on July 10. Repairs began on July 30. Approximately 1,600 short tons (1,500 t) of steel were removed and replaced. In June 1990 the tanker, renamed S/R Mediterranean, left harbor after $30 million of repairs.[54] It was still sailing as of January 2010, registered in Panama. The vessel was then owned by a Hong Kong company, who operated it under the name Oriental Nicety. In August 2012, it was beached at Alang, India and dismantled.
Alaska regulations[edit]
In the aftermath of the spill, Alaska governor Steve Cowper issued an executive order requiring two tugboats to escort every loaded tanker from Valdez out through Prince William Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance. As the plan evolved in the 1990s, one of the two routine tugboats was replaced with a 210-foot (64 m) Escort Response Vehicle (ERV). Tankers at Valdez are no longer single-hulled. Congress enacted legislation requiring all tankers to be double-hulled as of 2015.[56]
Economic and personal impact[edit]
In 1991, following the collapse of the local marine population (particularly clams, herring and seals) the Chugach Alaska Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It has since recovered.[57]
According to several studies funded by the state of Alaska, the spill had both short-term and long-term economic effects. These included the loss of recreational sports, fisheries, reduced tourism, and an estimate of what economists call "existence value", which is the value to the public of a pristine Prince William Sound.[58][59][60][61]
The economy of the city of Cordova, Alaska was adversely affected after the spill damaged stocks of salmon and herring in the area.[62][63] The village of Chenega was transformed into an emergency base and media outlet.The local villagers had to cope with a tripling of their population from 80 to 250. When asked how they felt about the situation, a village councillor noted that they were too shocked and busy to be depressed; others emphasized the human costs of leaving children unattended while their parents worked to clean up.[64] Many Native Americans were worried that too much time was spent on the fishery and not enough on the land that supports subsidence hunting.
In 2010, a CNN report alleged that many oil spill cleanup workers involved in the Exxon Valdez response had subsequently become sick. Anchorage lawyer Dennis Mestas found that this was true of 6,722 of 11,000 worker files he was able to inspect. Access to the records was controlled by Exxon. Exxon responded in a statement to CNN:
"After 20 years, there is no evidence suggesting that either cleanup workers or the residents of the communities affected by the Valdez spill have had any adverse health effects as a result of the spill or its cleanup."[65][66]
Reactions[edit]
In 1992, Exxon released a video titled Scientists and the Alaska Oil Spill, to be distributed to schools. Dr. Michael Fry called it a piece of "corporate propaganda".[67]
In December 1994, the Unabomber assassinated Burson-Marsteller executive Thomas Mosser, accusing him of having "helped Exxon clean up its public image after the Exxon Valdez incident". The PR company claimed not to have been contracted during the actual crisis.[68]
See also[edit]
List of oil spills
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Ixtoc I oil spill
Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster, 1992 HBO movie
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Jump up ^ "Warning To Gulf Volunteers: Almost Every Cleanup Worker From The 1989 Exxon Valdez Disaster Is Now Dead". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
Jump up ^ D. Michael Fry (November 19, 1992). "How Exxon's "Video for Students" Deals in Distortions". The Textbook Letter. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
Jump up ^ Thomas, Pierre; Weiser, Benjamin (April 13, 1996). "Reputed 'Manifesto' Recovered". The Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
Further reading[edit]
Lee, Douglas B. (August 1989). "Tragedy in Alaska Waters". National Geographic. Vol. 176 no. 2. pp. 260–263. ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 643483454.
External links[edit]
NTSB safety recommendation to address crew management deficiencies at Exxon and in industry
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
ExxonMobil updates and news on Valdez
Images from the Exxon Valdez oil spill from the National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration
EVOS Damage Assessment and Restoration at National Marine Fisheries Service
Oil Spill Profiles: Exxon Valdez at United States Environmental Protection Agency
US National Response Team
Exxon Valdez oil spill at Encyclopedia of Earth
Ronen Perry, "Economic Loss, Punitive Damages, and the Exxon Valdez Litigation" in Georgia Law Review (2010)
The story behind the oil spill verdict – originally published in San Diego Union-Tribune
Alaskan Regional Response Team report on the Exxon Valdez disaster
BP Played Central Role in Botched Containment of 1989 Exxon Valdez Disaster – video report by Democracy Now!
The short film Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Assessment (April 24, 1990) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
The short film Exxon Valdez: One Year Later (March 22, 1990) is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Photos related to the oil spill from the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS)
"25 Years After Exxon Valdez, BP Was the Hidden Culprit" at Truthdig (March 23, 2014)
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text:
Streets and highways of Washington, D.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Standard markers for highways in the District of Columbia.
Highway names
Interstates
Interstate X (I-X)
US Highways
U.S. Route X (US X)
State
District of Columbia Route X (DC X)
System links
Streets and Highways of Washington, D.C.
Interstate
U.S
D.C.
State-Named Streets
The streets and highways of Washington, D.C., form the core of the city's surface transportation infrastructure. As a planned city, streets in the capital of the United States follow a distinctive layout and addressing scheme. There are 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of public roads in the city, of which 1,392 miles (2,240 km) are owned and maintained by the District government.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 City layout
2 Expansion of the street-name system
3 Address system
4 Major roads
4.1 Interstate highways
4.2 Other expressways and parkways
4.3 City streets
5 See also
6 Notes and references
7 Further reading
City layout[edit]
See also: L'Enfant Plan
Facsimile of manuscript of Peter Charles L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the federal capital city (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1887)[2]
L'Enfant's plan for Washington, D.C., as revised by Andrew Ellicott. 1792.
Thackara & Vallance's 1792 print of Ellicott's "Plan of the City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia ...", showing street names, lot numbers, depths of the Potomak River and legends.
Washington, D.C., is divided into four quadrants: Northwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol building.
The District of Columbia was created to serve as the permanent national capital in 1790. Within the District, a new capital city was founded in 1791 to the east of a preexisting settlement at Georgetown. The original street layout in the new City of Washington was designed by Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant.[3][4]
As a planned city, Washington was modeled in the Baroque style and incorporated avenues radiating out from rectangles, providing room for open space and landscaping. At L'Enfant's request, Thomas Jefferson provided plans of cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Milan, which he had brought back from Europe in 1788.[5] His design also envisioned a garden-lined "grand avenue" approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) in length and 400 feet (120 m) wide in the area that is now the National Mall.[6] The City of Washington was bounded to the north by Boundary Street (now Florida Avenue) at the base of the escarpment of the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line, to the southeast by the Anacostia River, to the southwest by the Potomac River and to the west by Rock Creek.[3][7]
In March 1792, President Washington dismissed L'Enfant due to his insistence on micromanaging the city's planning, which had resulted in conflicts with the three commissioners appointed by Washington to supervise the capital's construction. Andrew Ellicott, who had worked with L'Enfant surveying the city, was then commissioned to complete the plans. Though Ellicott made revisions to the original plans, including changes to some street patterns, L'Enfant is still credited with the overall design of the city.[8][9][10]
The District is divided into four quadrants of unequal area: Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW). The axes bounding the quadrants radiate from the U.S. Capitol building.[11] All road names include the quadrant abbreviation to indicate their location, and house numbers are assigned based on the approximate number of blocks away from the Capitol. In most of the city, the streets are set out in a grid pattern with east–west streets named with letters (e.g., C Street SW) and north–south streets with numbers (e.g., 4th Street NW). Two avenues, Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue, line each side of the Mall.[11] Many of the diagonal streets and avenues in Washington are named after states. Some of these streets are particularly noteworthy, such as Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the White House with the U.S. Capitol and Massachusetts Avenue, a section of which is informally known as Embassy Row given the number of foreign embassies located along the street.
Important to note, there is no J Street in any quadrant. This is because, until the mid-19th century, the letters "I" and "J" were indistinguishable when written.[12] Following that same idea, "I" Street is often written as "Eye" Street, to distinguish it from the letter "L" and the numeral "1", and "Q" Street, is often written "Que," "Cue," or "Queue."[citation needed] Urban legend had said that J Street was omitted deliberately by L'Enfant due to a dispute with John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; however, this was later proven to be a myth.[13] Jay Street NE runs through the Deanwood neighborhood; it does not belong to the series of lettered streets. In a nod to this, a food court in the student union at George Washington University is named J Street; J Street is also the name of a Jewish lobbying organization and several companies operating in the District. There are also no X, Y, or Z streets in any quadrant, and most or all of A and B streets are called by other names in the Mall area.[14]
Expansion of the street-name system[edit]
See also: Georgetown street renaming
Map of Georgetown from 1899, showing old street names
During most of the 19th century, each municipality within the federal district maintained its own separate government and street system. With the passage of the Organic Act of 1871, Congress created a new government for the entire federal district. This Act combined the City of Washington, Georgetown, and unincorporated area then known as Washington County into a single municipality for the whole District of Columbia.[15]
Through much of the 19th century, developers of land outside of the center city tended to build streets wherever they liked. An 1887 report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, the three-member panel that governed the District, said that many of these streets "go nowhere and connect with nothing." The Commissioners said that "If the configuration and architecture of a city has a moral influence upon its residents, the rectification of the irreclaimable obliquity of the... streets is manifestly desirable for more than physical reasons."[16]
In 1888, Congress passed a law requiring that future subdivisions built outside of the City of Washington and Georgetown must have streets that conform to the general plan of the City of Washington. However, the law allowed existing streets to remain, contrary to the wishes of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.[17]
In 1893, Congress passed a law mandating that existing streets must be changed or moved in order to be in conformity with the District's street plan.[18] Some property owners were upset that their private property would need to be seized without compensation in order to move streets in conformance with the street plan.[17] The Supreme Court agreed, striking down the law as unconstitutional.[17] In 1893, Congress mandated a new system of highways within the District that conformed to the City of Washington's street plan but left existing streets in place.[19] A separate act of Congress in 1895 required that the street names in Georgetown be changed to conform to the street naming system used in the City of Washington.[20] However, the old street names were shown on maps as late as 1899.
The Commissioners of the District of Columbia mandated a new system of naming streets in 1901.[21] Streets running north and south would continue to numbered.[21] North of Florida Avenue, streets running east and west would be named after famous Americans.[21] The streets would be given one-syllable names in alphabetical order. When the one-syllable series ended, two-syllable names would be used and then three-syllable names. In only the Northwest Quadrant was a "fourth alphabet" necessary. This fourth alphabet uses botanical names without regard to the number of syllables: Aspen, Butternut, Cedar, etc. Verbena Street NW is the last in this series before the Maryland state line.[21] South of the center city, a similar system would be used with streets named after famous Americans or prominent geographical locations.[21] In 1905, the streets east of Rock Creek Park, north of Florida Avenue, and west of North Capitol Street were renamed in conformity with the single street naming system.[22] Eventually all street names in the District of Columbia were made to conform to a single street naming system.
The boundaries of the District of Columbia with the State of Maryland are marked by Western Avenue, Eastern Avenue, and Southern Avenue.
Address system[edit]
The city's addressing system is best understood in terms of a Cartesian coordinate system with its origin at the Capitol. While the system may appear complex, once learned it allows one to pinpoint not only where one is but also where and how far one may need to travel. For example, if one needed to find 633 A Street SE, the address informs that the address is southeast of the Capitol, with A Street one block south of East Capitol Street, and that the location on that street is on the 600 block, which is between 6th Street and 7th Street SE.
Another example is the White House, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW: it is located at 16th Street NW (Lafayette Square) and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. This works both ways; an address at 514 19th St NW would be on 19th St west of the Capitol, and since E is the fifth letter of the alphabet, the 514 address would be between E and F Streets NW. Because J is omitted from the scheme, it is not counted in numbering. Thus, the 900 block is in between I and K Streets, and the 1000 block is in between K and L Streets (even though K is the 11th letter of the alphabet).
Address numbers also correspond with a particular side of the street, with odd numbers on the right as one faces in the direction of increasing numbers. This works out by quadrant as shown below:
Quadrant
East-West Streets
North-South Streets
Northwest Odd numbers on north side Even numbers on west side
Southwest Odd numbers on north side Even numbers on east side
Southeast Odd numbers on south side Even numbers on east side
Northeast Odd numbers on south side Even numbers on west side
Major roads[edit]
A large system of freeways was planned in the District. Many, especially in the northern half, were canceled after freeway revolts. (Canceled freeways are shown in light blue.)
Interstate highways[edit]
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area road map
Interstate 495, also known as the "Capital Beltway", creates an artificial boundary for the inner suburbs of Washington and is the root of the phrase "inside the Beltway". Almost completely circling Washington, D.C., it crosses a tiny portion of the District at its southernmost point at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. I-66 runs from the eastern edge of Georgetown, connects with the Beltway, and continues through Northern Virginia to I-81. I-295 comes up from the south starting at the eastern edge of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Beltway and ending at the 11th Street Bridges, where it intersects with I-695 (the Southeast Freeway) to cross the Anacostia River into downtown. Just south of the U.S. Capitol Building, I-695 links up with I-395 (the Southwest Freeway), a major commuter route extending from New York Avenue to the Beltway and Interstate 95 in Springfield, Virginia. The Inner Loop was a proposed network of freeways in the city center; however, only portions of it were ever built. Today, the "inner loop" is most frequently used to describe the inside lanes of 495—that is, those that travel clockwise around Washington.
A convergence indexing based road traffic monitoring system was installed on Washington's highways in 2008.[citation needed]
Other expressways and parkways[edit]
The Anacostia Freeway (DC-295) continues in a northeasterly direction from the point where I-295 ends at its intersection with I-695 near the 11th Street Bridges on the south side of the Anacostia River and links with the Baltimore–Washington Parkway, which eventually becomes Maryland Route 295, via a short section of Maryland Route 201. The Suitland Parkway connects the city with the southeastern suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. The Whitehurst Freeway, an elevated freeway over K Street in Georgetown, allows US 29 traffic to bypass congested Georgetown between the Key Bridge and K Street downtown. The E Street Expressway connects I-66 with the city's Foggy Bottom area and the areas immediately to the west of the White House. The Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway provides access to downtown from the northern and western ends of the city.
City streets[edit]
Among the major roads in the city are MacArthur Boulevard NW, 14th Street NW, 16th Street NW, 18th Street NW, 7th Street NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, K Street NW, H Street NW, Wisconsin Avenue, M Street NW, H Street NE, Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue, Independence Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, U Street NW, South Dakota Ave NE, North Capitol Street, South Capitol Street, East Capitol Street, Georgia Avenue, Minnesota Avenue, Benning Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, New York Avenue, and Rhode Island Avenue.
While city streets generally do not have route numbers, U.S. Routes 1, 1 Alternate, 29, and 50 are routed predominantly or entirely over city surface streets.
See also[edit]
U.S. Roads portal
Washington, D.C. portal
History of Washington, D.C.
List of circles in Washington, D.C.
List of state-named roadways in Washington, D.C.
Notes and references[edit]
Jump up ^ "Public Road Length". Highway Statistics 2006. Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on November 22, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
Jump up ^ L'Enfant, Peter Charles; United States Coast and Geodetic Survey; United States Commissioner of Public Buildings (1887). "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States: projected agreeable to the direction of the President of the United States, in pursuance of an act of Congress passed the sixteenth day of July, MDCCXC, "establishing the permanent seat on the bank of the Potowmac": [Washington, D.C.]". Washington: United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. LCCN 88694201. Retrieved March 5, 2017. Facsimile of the 1791 L'Enfant plan in Repository of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C.
^ Jump up to: a b Passanneau, Joseph R. (2004). Washington Through Two Centuries: A History in Maps and Images. New York: The Monacelli Press, Inc. pp. 14–16, 24–27. ISBN 1-58093-091-3.
Jump up ^ L'Enfant identified himself as "Peter Charles L'Enfant" during most of his life, while residing in the United States. He wrote this name on his "Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of t(he) United States ...." (Washington, D.C.) and on other legal documents. However, during the early 1900s, a French ambassador to the U.S., Jean Jules Jusserand, popularized the use of L'Enfant's birth name but had many more, "Pierre Charles L'Enfant". (Reference: Bowling, Kenneth R (2002). Peter Charles L'Enfant: vision, honor, and male friendship in the early American Republic. George Washington University, Washington, D.C. ISBN 978-0-9727611-0-9). The United States Code states in 40 U.S.C. § 3309: "(a) In General.—The purposes of this chapter shall be carried out in the District of Columbia as nearly as may be practicable in harmony with the plan of Peter Charles L'Enfant." The National Park Service identifies L'Enfant as "Major Peter Charles L'Enfant Archived April 5, 2014, at the Wayback Machine." and as "Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant Archived February 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. on its website.
Jump up ^ "The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, 8". The Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource). Retrieved July 16, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Map 1: The L'Enfant Plan for Washington". National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
Jump up ^ "The L'Enfant and McMillan Plans". National Park Service. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2008.
Jump up ^ Crew, Harvey W.; Webb, William Bensing; Wooldridge, John (1892). Centennial History of the City of Washington, D. C. Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House. pp. 101–103. LCCN 06028029. OCLC 2843595. Retrieved December 30, 2017 – via Google Books.
Jump up ^ The L'Enfant and McMillan Plans Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. in "Washington, D.C., A National Register of Historic Places Travel Inventory" Archived October 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. in official website of the U.S. National Park Service Archived June 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ The U.S. National Archives holds a copy of "Ellicott's engraved Plan superimposed on the Plan of L'Enfant showing the changes made in the engraved Plan under the direction of President Washington". See "Scope & Contents" page of "Archival Description" for National Archives holding of "Miscellaneous Oversize Prints, Drawings and Posters of Projects Associated with the Commission of Fine Arts, compiled 1893 - 1950", ARC Identifier 518229/Local Identifier 66-M; Series from Record Group 66: Records of the Commission of Fine Arts, 1893 - 1981. Record of holding obtained through search in Archival Descriptions Search of ARC - Archival Research Catalog Archived May 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. using search term L'Enfant Plan Ellicott, August 22, 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b "Layout of Washington DC". United States Senate. September 30, 2005. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
Jump up ^ Hagner, Alexander B. (1904). "Street Nomenclature of Washington City". Records of the Columbia Historical Society: 240.
Jump up ^ "No Way, No Jay: Old historical legends holds that architect Pierre L'Enfant omitted 'J' Street from his plans for Washington, D.C., because he disliked John Jay." Snopes: Fact Check. Snopes.com. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
Jump up ^ Location of A Street NE east of the U.S. Supreme Court building. At Google Maps
Jump up ^ Dodd, Walter Fairleigh (1909). The government of the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C.: John Byrne & Co. p. 4. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016.
Jump up ^ Proctor, John Clogett, ed. (1930). Washington Past and Present. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc. p. 158.
^ Jump up to: a b c Proctor, John Clogett, ed. (1930). Washington Past and Present. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc. p. 159.
Jump up ^ Laws relating to the permanent system of highways outside of the cities of Washington and Georgetown. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1908. pp. 3–4. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016.
Jump up ^ Laws relating to the permanent system of highways outside of the cities of Washington and Georgetown. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1908. p. 3. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016.
Jump up ^ "CHAP. 79.-An Act Changing the name of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes" (PDF). United States Statutes at Large from August 1893 to March 1895. p. 679. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 16, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Streets Named Anew: Commissioners Fix Highway Nomenclature for Suburbs". The Washington Post. August 15, 1901. p. 2.
Jump up ^ "New Street Names: Nomenclature for Section in the Far Northwest". The Washington Post. August 2, 1905. p. 12.
Further reading[edit]
Ovason, David, The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: the Masons and the building of Washington, D.C., New York City: Perennial, 2002. ISBN 0-06-019537-1 ISBN 978-0060195373
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