AP
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A large pipe that strikes hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage has ruptured and despatched wastewater flowing into the Potomac River northwest of Washington, DC, polluting it forward of a major winter storm that has repair crews scrambling.
DC Water, which operates the sewer system, is hooking up pumps to divert sewage across the rupture and permit crews to make repairs. It has cautioned individuals to remain out of the realm and to clean their pores and skin if uncovered.
The spill was brought on by a 72-inch diameter sewer pipe that collapsed late Monday, taking pictures sewage out of the bottom and into the river. DC Water spokesperson John Lisle mentioned the utility estimates the overflow at about 40 million gallons every day — sufficient to fill about 66 Olympic-size swimming swimming pools — but it surely’s not clear precisely how a lot has spilled into the river because the overflow started.
“Oh, my god, the smell is horrific,” mentioned Dean Naujoks, the Potomac Riverkeeper and a part of an environmental nonprofit. “It’s such high concentrations of sewage that just grabbing a sample is a public health risk.”
Associated Press video from the scene confirmed indicators posted close to the river that learn “DANGER” and “Raw Sewage” and warned individuals to not enter the realm. Naujoks and one other man donned protecting gloves to take samples of water from the river to check for E. coli and different micro organism. Small bits of particles could possibly be seen floating in among the pattern bottles.
The spill occurred in Montgomery County, Maryland, alongside Clara Barton Parkway, which hugs the northern fringe of the Potomac River close to Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park.
Crews are eradicating lock gates on the C & O Canal and can arrange pumps to divert the sewage into the canal, rerouting it away from the river and again into the sewage system downstream. The pumps have sufficient capability to seize all the sewage stream in dry climate, mentioned Lisle, however they could possibly be overwhelmed by a surge in stormwater. Crews will work via the weekend, when a bad winter storm is anticipated, Lisle mentioned, they usually hope to have the bypass arrange by Monday.
The spill doesn’t impression ingesting water, which is a separate system, DC Water mentioned.
Naujoks mentioned the spill is going on at a time when the river is low. He went out to take a look at it Wednesday and was “kind of stunned.”
“Sewage is just bubbling up like a small geyser, maybe 2, 3 feet into the air,” he mentioned. “Sewage water is running in every direction.”
The District of Columbia Department of the Environment didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, together with whether or not it’s testing the river’s water.
DC Water knew the pipeline was deteriorating, and rehabilitation work on a bit a few quarter-mile from the break started in September and was not too long ago accomplished, Lisle mentioned. Repair work on further “high priority” sections of the pipeline is anticipated to start out later this yr, in keeping with the DC Water web site.
The pipeline, known as the Potomac Interceptor, was first put in within the Nineteen Sixties.
There’s an enormous funding hole for water infrastructure within the US, mentioned Gary Belan, a senior director with American Rivers, an environmental group that advocates for clear waterways.
“I know a lot of the wastewater folks are trying to catch up as best they can, but this is something we see and will continue to see, where these pipes fail and these massive sewage dumps occur,” Belan mentioned. “This is why we can’t defer maintenance of our wastewater infrastructure. Too often, we’re dependent on these disasters to prod us forward.”
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, talking at a press convention declaring a snow emergency for the approaching storm, mentioned authorities there have been conscious of the sewage spill “but I can’t give you an intelligent response right now.” She mentioned DC officers can be extra forthcoming as quickly as they might.
Kelly Offner, a US Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson for the mid-Atlantic area, mentioned the company was coordinating with DC Water, the Maryland Department of the Environment and different federal, state and native authorities to evaluate the impression on the setting from the Potomac Interceptor sanitary sewer overflow. The federal company oversees DC Water’s sewer operations below a 2015 federal consent decree.
“DC Water has provided daily updates since the overflow was discovered on January 19, 2026, and has been coordinating efforts to contain the overflow, monitor environmental impacts, and communicate with the public,” Offner mentioned in an emailed response to questions.
An EPA survey of wastewater infrastructure wants from 2022 estimated that the District of Columbia wants roughly $1.33 billion to exchange or rehabilitate structurally deteriorating sanitary or mixed sewers inside the subsequent 20 years.
Nationally, tons of of billions in infrastructure funding is required over the following twenty years for clear water issues like getting old sewer pipes. In other places where sewer breaks are persistent, it may result in backups into houses and common flooding.