Tag: potomac river sewage spill

A standing room-only crowd heard from D.C. Water and other officials about the huge Potomac Interceptor sewer spill that resulted in more than 240 million gallons of highly polluted water getting into the Potomac River near Cabin John, Maryland.

Officials say during the meeting at D.C. Water’s headquarters in Southeast D.C. that bacteria levels are dropping to the point that people will be allowed back onto the river for recreational purposes next week.

D.C.’s Health Director Ayanna Bennett said regular bacteria testing shows levels are dropping and in the District section of the river restrictions will be relaxed so boaters, rowers and others can go back onto the water.

“In the D.C. waters we consider it safe for you to have contact with the Potomac and that advisory will be announced as lifted on March 2,” she told the audience.

“So, we are going to lift our advisory about contact with the Potomac in the D.C. waters.”

While many people expressed relief that some restrictions on contact with the river are being loosened, D.C. Water officials insist because of the location of the main break, and their actions in the day’s aftermath, the city’s water supply remains safe to drink and no sewage has been released into the river for two weeks.

D.C. Water CEO David Gadis said the break on the 54-mile pipe that runs from Dulles International Airport in Virginia to the District shows how fragile aging infrastructure can fail.

“We are committed to looking at all sections of the pipe at the Potomac Interceptor. And also reevaluating their structural and integrity to ensure an event like this does not happen again,” he said.

Repairs to the sewer line will cost at least $20 million. It’s not clear how the cost will be covered and how much the federal government will cover.

D.C. Water chief operating officer Matt Brown said the damage sustained on the roughly 60-year-old sewer line showed the vulnerability of the region’s infrastructure.

“We have some very, very old brick line sewers that are in really good shape and then we have some newer sewers that have some corrosion,” Brown said.

Many in the audience included D.C. officials, neighborhood advisory commission members, along with some people who depend on the Potomac River for their livelihoods.

Capt. Tim Blanchard, owner of Fish The Potomac, told the audience that his business had been heavily affected by the spill.

“We’ve been shut down ever since,” he said, explaining that his plans to expand his operations have been temporarily on hold until the river situation stabilizes.

But Blanchard said he’s relieved that the advisory could be lifted soon.

“I’m just excited to get out there and fish again,” he added.

The meeting was the first of at least two planned town hall-style events to give the public more information about the spill and its cleanup. A second town hall is scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland.

D.C. Water crews have put in place a temporary bypass system, and they say they’ve added additional backup measures to prevent overflow events from taking place while the emergency repairs are underway.

The utility said since Feb. 8 no additional polluted water has entered the river. Crews are removing rocks and debris from the collapsed section of pipe, and emergency repairs are projected to be completed by mid-March.

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