There is always constant building in D.C., but did you know that much of the cement for those new buildings comes from a location right inside the city?
There are two cement production companies – Vulcan Materials Company and Superior Construction Services – next to each other in Buzzard Point, just southwest of Nationals Stadium and with a clear view to the Capitol.
There’s a raw beauty to the piles of grit and the machinery for cement production:
Environmental impacts
Obviously, having cement production so near downtown has been useful and cost-effective for building, but comes at a steep environmental cost. The environmental impacts are getting increasing scrutiny as the population living in Buzzard Point changes from residents who did not have much political power to residents in the new, very expensive, developments (using the term “environmental racism” is fairly accurate here).
The health issues include both the dust, and the constant movement of large trucks coming and leaving the area.
To read more about the environmental issues, good starting places are:
The D.C. government’s 2016 Buzzard Point Community Health & Safety Study