Spring Valley, Washington, D.C.

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Map of Washington, D.C., with Spring Valley in red.

Spring Valley is an affluent neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., known for its large homes and tree-lined streets.

The neighborhood houses the main campus of American University at 4400 Massachusetts Avenue. Nebraska Avenue and Loughboro Road are to its south, Dalecarlia Parkway is to its west, and Massachusetts Avenue is to its northeast. Paradoxically, the neighborhood to the northeast is called American University Park, even though the bulk of the main campus is located in Spring Valley.

During World War I, Spring Valley was home to a military defense installation in which chemical munitions were manufactured and tested. Although the area had become a residential neighborhood by the Second World War, its legacy as a weapons facility returned in 1993, when weapons were found buried in the neighborhood (see below).

Spring Valley's residents include notable media personalities (e.g., Ann Compton, Jim Vance), lawyers (e.g., Brendan Sullivan), politicians, corporate officers, and elite Washington society (e.g. Washington Nationals principle owners Ed and Debra Cohen). Richard M. Nixon lived in Spring Valley before becoming President; his immediate predecessor, Lyndon Baines Johnson, after becoming Vice President under John F. Kennedy, purchased a three-story mansion named Les Ormes (The Elms) in Spring Valley that had previously been the home of socialite and ambassador Perle Mesta [1]. George H.W. Bush also lived in the neighborhood prior to his White House years.

Several embassy residences are located in the neighborhood, such as the ambassador's houses of South Korea, Bahrain, Qatar, and Yemen. The median home sale price in 2007 was US$1.725 million.[2]

In January 1993, a contractor digging a utility trench in the Spring Valley area unearthed World War I munitions left there from when it was used as a chemical weapons testing ground. The munitions were discovered in pits located on the Korean Ambassador property, near American University. Additional pits were found on an adjacent residential property. The excavations at the Ambassador property are now completed, and contaminated soil has been removed from the Child Development Center play area at American University. Work is still in progress on the adjacent property. Other properties are also being investigated for possible related contamination.

Arsenic-contaminated soil has been removed from the Child Development Center play area on American University. Time critical soil removal actions have been completed on several American University Lots and at approximately 25 homes. The expanded arsenic sampling program was developed after elevated arsenic was found near the pits on the Korean Ambassador property. The site-wide soil cleanup standard for arsenic has been finalized at 20 ppm by EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers and the DC Health Department. The Mayor’s Science Advisory Panel has approved this standard. The arsenic contamination is the result of chemical warfare research carried out at the American University Experimental Station during WWI. One hundred and forty (140) properties have arsenic levels above the cleanup criteria and will need remediation. Thirty have been completed to date. The Army Corps of Engineers budget for this site is approximately $11 million dollars per year. Site work is expected to continue for approximately five more years.