Thursday, August 13, 2026
By Caroline Woodward
Lisa Fager, executive director of the Black Georgetown Foundation, is sounding the alarm on the District Department of Transportation’s alleged carelessness in carrying out drainage work next to the historic Mt. Zion & Female Union Band Society Cemeteries.
BGF held an Aug. 4 town hall at the Georgetown Public Library regarding work done by DDOT near 27th Street, Mill Road and Lyons Mill Road. These roads are located beside the oldest remaining intact Black cemeteries in Washington, D.C., Mt. Zion & Female Union Band Society cemeteries in Georgetown.
Recently, the Black Georgetown Foundation was made aware that DDOT excluded the cemetery property from a 2025 Lyons Mill Road remote-sensing study area. This study was done in preparation for a necessary drainage project to improve stormwater runoff. The study, along with 2023 survey data, identified seven sites of potential burial in areas of recent construction.
According to BGF, even after these sites were discovered and identified, DDOT proceeded to place construction vehicles and equipment on and around the immediate area. BGF also claims they were not made aware of remains found by DDOT employees at these sites until November 2025, when it was mentioned in a report related only to Lyons Mill Road.
This prompted Fager to request a report and subsequently a public records request after a lack of timely response from DDOT.
BGF, which manages the cemetery, supports the improvements but is highly concerned about DDOT’s management of the project and disregard for historical and cultural significance, she said.
“When the city treats this place as empty space, that becomes neglected on the ground,” Fager told NBC4.
In a media summary from BGF, the foundation outlined three primary concerns with the situation. First, the foundation would like clarification on whether the seven locations marked by the 2023 survey data are within the cemetery or under the jurisdiction of DDOT. Due to DDOT not properly marking the cemetery’s borders in the survey, these exact locations are unclear.
Second, BGF requests a transparent report of the additional findings from the 2025 Lyons Mill Road survey. Without complete data, BGF has been unable to determine precisely where probable burials, targets or anomalies are located.
Finally, BGF would like a response to why deep excavation by DDOT proceeded for more than 30 days without an onsite archaeologist. Due to this lack of oversight, DDOT used a different standard of distance as recommended by BGF, working within only five feet of the cemetery instead of the 50-foot radius suggested by archeological standards.
BGF is requesting that DDOT directly respond and address these questions and concerns via written reports, source data, independent archeological oversight with written burial protection and future treatment plans.
Days before the town hall, all the equipment from the site was removed and a curb was constructed to protect the land, according to both DDOT and the foundation.
DDOT also acknowledged certain mistakes, including not keeping community members informed and storing construction materials on the grounds.
“We focus a lot on being culturally relevant, but I think we also have to work on being culturally sensitive,” said Olivia Dedner, DDOT’s head of external affairs, at a town hall on Aug. 12. “Hindsight being 20/20, and this is terrible, but we should have just put the time into finding another location.”
This issue, and the resulting town halls, reveal a much larger problem that impacts the interaction of construction and historical sites around the city. While D.C. archeologists can recommend protections, DDOT and other citywide agencies are not required to follow them.
In response, BGF is calling attention to the need for official burial policies. These policies would require notice, mapping, consultation, archaeological monitoring, protection, maintenance, enforcement and accountability when probable burial sites and other historic places are identified in places of potential construction. Such laws would be an essential step to ensuring the dignity and protection of these sites and the remains of those who remain there.
“Humans remain,” said Joseph Jones, professor of anthropology and director of the Institute for Historical Biology at the College of William & Mary, said at the Aug. 4 town hall. “Not human remains, but humans remain. They are people.”