Lake Accotink dredging sites could disrupt the Howrey memorial, youth sports, and wildlife habitats

These signs were put up by the Friends of the Soldiers Memorial at Howrey Park.

The options under consideration for dredging Lake Accotink are raising alarm bells among residents concerned about the potential environmental destruction and loss of sports fields. 

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors agreed to fund a $30.5 million dredging project in December 2019 to save Lake Accotink. The plan called for the dredged material to be carried via pipeline to a site where it would be dried out before being trucked away. 

Without drastic measures to save the lake, it will fill up with sediment and gradually disappear. Dredging is expected to start in 2022 and run through late 2025.

Related story: Supervisors approve funding plan for Lake Accotink

The Department of Public and Environmental Services hired the Arcadis engineering company to explore options for dredge staging, sediment processing, and pipeline locations. The dried-out sediment would be carted by truck to a quarry in Chantilly. 

There will be a community meeting July 29 on the dredging options. Comments can be submitted here. 

About half a dozen alternatives are under consideration for processing the spoils. “Each feasible location will cause some disruption to surrounding communities and park users during the dredging process,” says Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw. 

One of those sites is Howrey Park in Annandale, which is drawing stiff opposition from the Annandale-North Springfield Little League (ANSLL) and the Friends of the Soldiers Memorial at Howrey Field Park.

Using the park as a dewatering site would disrupt the memorial to the six soldiers who died in Howrey Park in 1967 when a flagpole they were installing fell on a power line. 

On May 25, the Board of Supervisors, at the request of Walkinshaw, approved a proclamation designating June 1 as “Soldiers of Howrey Field Park Day” in honor of the six soldiers.  

Related story: Annandale resident seeks more recognition for memorial to tragic accident that claimed the lives of six soldiers

The ANSLL, which maintains several ballfields at Howrey Park, is concerned that it could lose the use of those fields for five years – or more if the spoils contain hazardous waste, said President Don Pedersen. 

Pedersen notes that “well over 1,500 players over the course of five years” use the fields at Howrey Park, and “there are many other choices that will not impact the youth sports community.” The Braddock Road Youth Club also uses Howrey Park.

The other potential dewatering sites are: 

• Wakefield Park, including the area under the power lines, the forested area along Braddock Road between the park entrance and Accotink Creek, and an area near the soccer fields.
• An area south of Lake Accotink that was used during the dredging operation in the 1980s.
• The site in Lake Accotink Park that was used during the 2010 dredge.
• A concrete plant in an industrial park off Edsall Road.
• An existing or newly built island in Lake Accotink.

All of those options, except the island, would require a pipeline to transport the sediment. If an island is used, the sediment would be transported to shore via barge then trucked away. The Wakefield Park alternatives would require the clearing of as much as five acres of woodland. 

It’s the position of Friends of Accotink Creek that “wooded habitat should not be sacrificed for either a dewatering site or pipeline,” says Philip Latasa of FACC. 

Related story: Studies underway to prepare for Lake Accotink dredging project

If the pipeline is positioned along the Cross County Trail, that would minimize tree loss, but it would impede the movement of small animals and water, Latasa says. The trail is in a floodplain, and the pipeline would trap debris after storms. 

The dewatering operation could be passive or mechanical. Mechanical dewatering would require a smaller footprint and would be faster but noisier. 

FACC favors the island or the area south of the lake, which hasn’t recovered from the previous dredge, as the best alternatives for causing the least amount of environmental damage.

Related story: Lake Accotink pipeline could threaten park’s habitat

“Frankly, knowing now the demands of the dewatering site makes the rejected option of removing the dam and creating a smaller, better lake sound much more appealing,” Latasa says. 

If the concrete dam were removed, the earthenware dam could be repositioned to capture the flow from Flag Run, which enters the lake near the marina, he says. That would result in a smaller lake – 25 acres instead of 50 acres – but it would be deeper and cleaner.