Rockville city and breweries share concern for county’s water

In response to illegal dumping in Rockville streams, some local breweries teamed up with the city’s environment commission over the past two years to get people talking about one thing that’s “critical” to them both: quality water.

The city’s “Brewshed” initiative began when the watershed committee realized they and the area’s growing brewing industry have a common interest in keeping the area’s water clean, as water is the main ingredient needed to brew beer, said Amanda Aparicio, a committee member.
“We were hoping that these kinds of partnerships would help us provide outreach to a new population of residents in Rockville,” Aparicio said. “And we believe it has been successful at expanding our reach.”

Early last month, the committee coordinated with True Respite Brewing Company to host an event after a 60-person cleanup at Maryvale Park. Bailey O’Leary, co-founder and events manager of True Respite, said the events support the community in learning about local watersheds, or areas where trash and pesticides have the potential to impact water quality.

“It’s a great way to educate the community,” said O’Leary, who has a background in environmental engineering. “And in terms of our brewery, we want to put our local community first because they're our biggest supporters.”

Illegal dumping – or putting trash, chemicals or yard waste into local streams – is a “serious problem in Montgomery County,” according to the county’s website, and with over 450 incidents a year, the county spends $100,000 on cleanup.

For Rockville the dumping got worse as the city’s population grew over the past two decades, said Sophie Wonderly, who lives in Burgundy Knolls. Wonderly, who’s lived in the neighborhood since 2003, said she would bring her daughter to the playground and see Croydon Creek polluted. But recently, as volunteer numbers have increased, she’s noticed a change.

“I feel that when we go to the playground now, we are much less likely to see debris in the creek,” said Wonderly. “When we began volunteering, the number of volunteers was smaller and the amount of trash was much larger.”

Not only is dumping costly for the city, it can also impact the community’s health with threats to children who may play near the water and increased numbers of rodents, according to the county website.

When asked if the city was addressing illegal dumping appropriately through Brewshed, Lou Kallas – a member of the Twinbrook Community Association – said, “I don't think we ever do enough, but the city’s addressing it.” Kallas went on to explain that while he has his complaints about the city, the response to illegal dumping is not one of them.

Wonderly, who has volunteered in cleanups with her family for the past five years, echoed O’Leary in saying education is the key to address illegal dumping.

“I believe that education, stream cleanups and other avenues for dealing with pollution are a great beginning to solve the problem,” she said. “When people understand the damage of waste not being properly disposed of and the importance of watersheds, I believe the issue of this sort of pollution can be addressed fully.”

And while nearby counties, such as Prince Georges’s County, have also had issues keeping their watersheds clean, Rockville is currently the only city to do Brewshed – which has national programs in states such as Maine and Oregon – to help address the problem.

Aparicio hopes that with Brewshed will come more volunteers and committee members. “We think the more we are able to get out and engage with the community, the more participation we will get,” said Aparicio. “Working alongside local breweries exposes our message to new populations of people, so this is helpful to our engagement activities.”

This fall’s event, held on a Saturday, was one of the largest they’ve had with 60 volunteers cleaning the stream and about 10 participants going to the brewery after, Aparicio said. As for the meetup at True Respite Brewing, “[it] gave a chance for people to chat and connect,” Aparicio said.

The committee hopes to reach out to different breweries for each event, Aparicio said, and form partnerships to continue working to keep Rockville’s water safe for the community, and its happy hours.