More than five months after millions of gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the Potomac River, aftershocks continue.
Litigation, emergency repairs and a major leadership shakeup have followed in the wake of the Jan. 19 rupture of the Potomac Interceptor sewage pipe near in Montgomery County, MD. As much as 300 million gallons of sewage spewed from the 6-foot-wide pipe into the Potomac River for about a week before it was stopped.
In April, the U.S. Department of Justice and Maryland’s attorney general announced separate legal actions on the same day against DC Water, the pipe’s owner. The lawsuits seek financial penalties and restoration of the spill site. In June, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network filed motions to intervene in both cases.
“We at PRKN had long feared that this disaster was not an accident. It was a failure of decision-making, accountability, and urgency,” said PRKN president Betsy Nicholas.
Also in June, DC Water’s board removed the utility’s chief, David Gadis. The utility has faced intense scrutiny from Congress and the public over years of permitting delays that pushed back the replacement of that section of pipe before its collapse.
Work is expected to continue into late summer on the first phase of the environmental cleanup, which includes removing contaminated soil from the C&O Canal. During the pipe’s repairs, the historic canal was used as a bypass for an estimated 2 billion gallons of sewage.
The second phase is expected to be completed in the fall. That includes replanting trees and shrubs, regrading wetlands, repairing the canal’s clay liner and adding topsoil.
The January spill didn’t impact drinking water because it happened downstream from the region’s intake pipes. But subsequent surveys conducted by DC Water crews have revealed deteriorating segments in Potomac, MD, upstream of withdrawal pipes — prompting immediate repairs on the 1,700-foot section of line, expected to be done in September.
Boating charters and outfitters report a sharp decline in business on the Potomac because of bad publicity over the spill. The Potomac Conservancy has called on the area’s congressional representatives to offer them economic assistance.
Under pressure from environmental groups, DC Water has committed to extend daily water-quality testing through at least the end of July. It had previously planned to transition to weekly testing beginning on July 5. Groups continue to push for the utility to do the daily testing through the summer season.
Recent spikes in E. coli levels at three testing sites downstream from the spill location have prompted calls for DC Water to investigate what’s going on.