Demand Arlington County repair failing sewer lines by executing current or future bond referenda to cover costs.

Let's keep Ms. Ruth - 101 years old - in a home she has lived in since the 1930s. Arlington County is holding 11 Lyon Park homes - including Ms. Ruth's home - responsible for the cost to relocate sewer connections from a failing sewer line. The County acquired the line in the 1930s, when it purchased the Clarendon Community Sewerage Corporation, its assets and liabilities. It maintained and serviced the line for the next 80 years. In October 2013, the County summoned the 11 homeowners to a meeting to inform them that the line was failing and that the County’s research did not find a record of any easement or conveyance of the line to the County. Thus, according to the County, the homeowners would be financially responsible for reconnecting to a functioning sewer line at an estimated cost of $25,000 per home. The homeowners own research, of archives at the County library and in Richmond, discovered documents and maps showing that the County had acquired the line in question. Notwithstanding this abundant evidence located in public records, the County continues to insist that it has no “record” of owning the failing line. 

The County's latest position is that, regardless of who owns the line, the homeowners are responsible for the cost to connect to a functioning sewer line. County officials have recently disclosed that there are other “privately owned” lines, thereby making this a COUNTY WIDE problem. 

The County and the Board need to put Basic Infrastructure First. We need a workable solution that is fair to tax-paying residents! Arlingtonians for Sewer Justice is asking for your support to persuade Arlington County to do the right thing: cover the costs associated with failing sewer lines through a current bond referendum that covers community infrastructure or recommend one to rehabilitate old sewer lines in the County.

Please sign our petition and make a statement to Arlington County that Basic Infrastructure Comes First!