The DC delegate asked the US Army Corps of Engineers about a study to find an alternate water source in the event a similar break leeches sewage into drinking water.
WASHINGTON — DC Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton continues her push for a secondary water source for D.C. in light of the massive sewage spill into the Potomac.
On Tuesday, she questioned US Army Corps of Engineers Commanding General and Chief of Engineers, Lt. Gen. William H. Graham specifically about a study they were commissioned to do to investigate an alternate water source for the District.
“The recent wastewater spill into the Potomac River is a stark reminder that our capital’s water infrastructure remains dangerously vulnerable. Clean water is not optional; it is fundamental to public health and safety,” Norton said in a press release. “This incident underscores the urgent need for a secondary drinking water source for the District so that residents are not left at the mercy of a single, aging system. We must act to protect our environment and the health of every family in our city.”
At the Transportation and Infrastructure hearing, she said that even though Congress appropriated $2.3 million to specifically study a secondary source, that the Corps recently informed her that they would likely limit the scope to expanding the existing primary storage basin.
“That violates both the study’s authorization and appropriation,” she said.
After assuring committee members that the drinking water is safe after the spill, Lt. Gen. Graham said, “you’re absolutely correct, our sole source of water, raw water is the Potomac. We have two intakes in the Potomac River, one at Great Falls and one at Little Falls. The sewage interceptor leak was in between the two.”
He said that means that currently, the source of raw water that is entering the treatment plant is pristine Potomac water, since they’ve shut off the Little Falls intake that’s below the sewage spill.
Currently, their crews are working to make sure that no additional stormwater interferes with what DC Water is doing to fix the interceptor, and they’re keeping that stormwater from flower to where the contaminated biosoil has accumulated since the break.
“We need to get to quick, immediate decisions on what can we do now to make things better,” Lt. Gen. Graham said. “So the expansion of the Dela Carla Reservoir would add an additional 12 hours of supply. That’s a 33% increase. “That’s achievable near term…We’re absolutely not taking off the table a more longer term off Potomac tertiary source of water.”
In the event another break occurs that does leech sewage into the city’s drinking water, the US Army Corps of Engineers said they’re exploring interconnects with other providers around, but for now they have to rely on the upstream and downstream intake redundancy.
As the question of who is shouldering the cost of the Potomac Interceptor repairs has emerged at the forefront of conversation over the last few weeks, Norton asked the lieutenant general if the corps will help DC Water cover the cost of repairs.
He didn’t answer the question in the hearing, but earlier this week the corps said the federal government is planning to cover 75% of the cost.
DC Water is offering District residents an opportunity to ask them questions at a community meeting at their southeast DC headquarters at 7 p.m. Wednesday night. Maryland residents can meet with them Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Walt Whitman High School.