For Release: Monday, Aug. 30, 2021
Contact: Nick DelleDonne,
703 929 6656
CM Pinto Supports Developer on Masonic Project
Ignores Environmental Hazards, Awaits Appeal Decisions
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto has effectively sided with the Masonic Temple and its developer, Perseus, as they pursue their controversial, environmentally dangerous, luxury apartment project at 15th and S Streets, NW. Pinto voiced her position last Wednesday when Nick DelleDonne, president of Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA), asked her to insist that DCRA revoke current excavation permits. The Councilmember said she would wait for the court and regulatory appeals to be decided before taking action on recently disclosed environmental issues.
“While CM Pinto waits, the Masons are not,” said DelleDonne. “Their bulldozers are recklessly releasing pollutants into the soil and water table, causing vibrations to hundred-year-old homes and buildings nearby and pumping water to the extent that subsidence is inevitable, damaging surrounding buildings.”
The Councilmember admitted that she had not read DECAA’s letter detailing the environmental dangers, reported by the developer's own consultant.
“It is clear the Masons are trying to create a fait-accompli – proceeding with the project, before appeals are heard and before construction permits are approved – that will be impossible to tear down, even if they lose their appeals many months from now.”
“It's not too late for our Councilmember to show her support for the residents,” said DECAA Vice President Iris McCollum Green. “We want to meet with her to make sure that she understands the gravity and hazards of the project if it is allowed to continue, and that she acts accordingly and soon.”