The lawsuit argues that federal agencies and military sites created landfills, allowed waste to flow into the river and perpetuated an outdated sewage system that dumped waste directly into the Anacostia.

The District of Columbia on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to hold the federal government responsible for pollution in the Anacostia River, accusing it of systematically contaminating the river over the past 150 years by treating it as a dumping ground for sewage,

A new lawsuit accuses the federal government of polluting the Anacostia River for over a century. FOX 5's Homa Bash breaks down the issue.

The federal government has been the number one driver of pollution," said D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb.