The group fighting against the Purple Line by claiming the light rail’s construction could harm endangered shrimp-like creatures called amphipods is asking the Town of Chevy Chase for more than $20,000 to conduct DNA tests to determine if amphipod DNA can be found in water in Rock Creek Park.
Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail is asking the town to fund the work of American University scientist David Culver who wants to survey sites near Coquelin Run and the nearby Rock Creek watershed to see if DNA of the threatened amphipod species can be found.
Culver previously identified the sites while looking for the amphipods themselves during the spring, a search in which he did not find any.
The DNA tests, according to the Friends’ proposal, “would detect amphipod DNA in water and sediment collected from seeps and enable researchers to determine that a seep is occupied even if they do not capture a specimen.”
In its background about the tests, the group said the work could result in certain areas being designated a critical habitat, which may require special management and protection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The cost of the DNA testing would be $20,388 and the group is asking for an additional $5,000 to analyze what effects on amphipod habitats, if any, would result due to storm water run-off and pollution from the light rail.
In August, the Friends group and two Chevy Chase residents filed a lawsuit alleging that construction of the Purple Line would affect the habitats of the Hay’s Spring amphipod, which is classified as endangered, and the Kenk’s amphipod, which is near-endangered.
Both are less than 10 millimeters in length and have been known to live in rock crevices and underground near springs in Rock Creek Park. According to the complaint, The Hay’s Spring amphipod in particular has limited habitats in the area consisting of less than five springs in Rock Creek Park.
The town council on Wednesday voted unanimously to schedule a public hearing on the funding request for DNA tests in November.