{"id":2813,"date":"2021-10-06T21:36:10","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T21:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/?p=2813"},"modified":"2021-10-12T23:52:58","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T23:52:58","slug":"press-alert-mcmillan-park-supporters-demand-city-council-to-repeal-mendelsons-misleading-action-allowing-park-demolition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/dc\/2813","title":{"rendered":"PRESS ALERT: McMillan Park Supporters Demand City Council to Repeal Mendelson\u2019s Misleading Action Allowing Park Demolition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PRESS RELEASE<\/b><\/u><\/font><\/font> <\/b><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n


October 6, 2021
Save McMillan Action Coalition
Contact: Linwood Norman, <\/font>smac.dc@gmail.com<\/a><\/font><\/font><\/a>
202-656-3012<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

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McMillan Park Supporters Demand City Council to Repeal Mendelson\u2019s Misleading Action Allowing Park Demolition<\/b><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Demolition Now Underway Despite Threat of Asbestos Contamination — Several Court Cases Still Active<\/i><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Supporters of McMillan Park are urgently demanding that City Council repeal a budget amendment spearheaded by Council Chair Phil Mendelson that is now being used for demolition of the park. <\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

\u201cCouncilmember Mendelson has defrauded his constituents about McMillan by saying this amendment won\u2019t affect the court cases. In reality, it has already done that. The public should be greatly concerned about the potential threat of asbestos contamination of the area\u2019s air quality and nearby reservoir,\u201d said Peter Stebbins, lead petitioner in one of the McMillan court cases.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cCity regulators show no proof of conducting an environmental assessment nor an asbestos abatement plan at the park, though demolition has resumed there. Concerned citizens should immediately <\/font><\/font><\/font>contact their Councilmember<\/font><\/font><\/a> to repeal Mendelson\u2019s misleading action.\u201d<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/a> McMillan Park supporters have challenged the demolition of the historic concrete structures at the park in part because\u00a0<\/font><\/font><\/font>experts have testified in court there is a strong likelihood that asbestos exists in concrete at the site and that during excavation, asbestos fibers would be plumed into the air and nearby DC water supply<\/u><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/a>.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

When the amendment to the DC Budget Act 2022 was adopted in July, Mendelson sought to allay concerns by some councilmembers that his amendment could be viewed as exerting undue influence in the continuing court cases involving McMillan Park. Developers want to turn the 25-acre park into a mix of high-rise residential and commercial development. <\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

At the time, Mendelson promised that the amendment was only to signal the Council\u2019s aspiration for future development at McMillan Park, as proposed by the Mayor. Afterward, however, the Council\u2019s amendment was used by the\u00a0<\/font><\/font><\/font>Office of Attorney General Karl Racine\u2019s attorneys to convince the DC Court of Appeals to lift the stay of demolition<\/u><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/a>\u00a0<\/font><\/font><\/font>to allow excavation machines back into McMillan Park, which quickly began earlier this week.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

The DC Court of Appeals agreed with city attorneys on September 29 and its ruling effectively exempts the McMillan Park project from all District laws, including historic preservation laws and more importantly, DC\u2019s public health and safety regulations and laws to protect the community.<\/font><\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n

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PRESS RELEASE October 6, 2021 Save McMillan Action Coalition Contact: Linwood Norman, smac.dc@gmail.com 202-656-3012 McMillan Park Supporters Demand City Council to Repeal Mendelson\u2019s Misleading Action Allowing Park Demolition Demolition Now Underway Despite Threat of Asbestos Contamination — Several Court Cases Still Active Supporters of McMillan Park are urgently demanding that City Council repeal a budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1,14,13,67,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-citywide","category-dc","category-historic-sites","category-mcmillan-park","category-planning","category-public-property"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2835,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813\/revisions\/2835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dcfeedback.com\/fit2print\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}