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Despite annual town clean-ups and environmentally conscious signage, litter and murky waters remain a common sight in University Park's Wells Run stream. Over the next year, town officials hope to do something about it.

The town is in the process of forming a committee that will spend the next year determining the severity and causes of the pollution before deciding on possible solutions.

"There are very complex overlay issues that go on there," Mayor John Tabori said at Monday's Town Council meeting. "I'd like a little bit more experience before we start to put legislation together."

The 3,300-foot stream runs through Hyattsville, University Park and Riverdale Park and empties into the Anacostia River. Over the years, it has been polluted with garbage, chemicals and even abandoned property by a variety of sources from nearby construction to careless residents.

"There's a lot of history with this stream in this area," said Councilman Mickey Lucas (Ward 2). "We could write a book about it."

Students at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville conducted a nearly two-year study collecting water samples from four points along the stream in Hyattsville, University Park and Riverdale. On July 6, University Park resident Tom Stickles presented the results to the Town Council.

Among the findings were elevated levels of phosphorous, nitrates and E. coli in University Park, levels that were not as high at upstream points in Hyattsville.

"The answers are not real brain surgery," Stickles said. "We have lots of gardens being sprayed with pesticides. We have lots of pets."

Pet waste was one of many pollutants found during a town stream clean-up event in April that netted nearly 50 bags of trash and recyclable materials.

In addition to clean-up efforts and further research, Tabori plans to work with Hyattsville and Riverdale Park residents. He and Lucas met with Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer and Hyattsville Mayor William Gardiner on July 6 to discuss a possible joint approach to curbing pollution.

Some solutions, Tabori said, would be to improve clean-up efforts and build concrete culverts to cover parts of the stream and prevent harmful runoff or dumping. Officials from the three jurisdictions will meet again in September.

"The idea of improving the stream cuts across multiple jurisdictions," Tabori said. "When we pollute the stream, we're polluting [Riverdale Park]."

Thus far, Lucas and Stickles have committed to University Park's stream committee and have received interest from about 20 possible volunteers, Lucas said.

Town officials will also apply for a Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission grant in August that could provide money for stream restoration, as well as tennis court repairs and a new dog park and playground.

M-NCPPC will choose which, if any, of the projects it will fund. An exact grant amount has not been set, but Tabori said other local jurisdictions have received upward of $600,000 in past instances.

"We're not going to be that greedy," Tabori said. "But I wouldn't rule out up to $300,000."

E-mail David Hill at dhill@gazette.net.