ReportWire

Tag: sewage spill

  • Virginia health officials warn to avoid contact with Potomac River due to sewage spill – WTOP News

    Three weeks after a 72-inch sewage pipe burst along the Clara Barton Parkway, the Virginia Department of Health issued a recreational water advisory Friday telling residents to avoid using D.C.’s main waterway.

    Do not go into the Potomac River.

    Three weeks after a 72-inch sewage pipe burst along the Clara Barton Parkway, the Virginia Department of Health issued a recreational water advisory Friday telling residents to avoid using D.C.’s main waterway.

    Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac starting on Jan. 19 before crews were able to contain the overflow. The area of contamination was just inside the Beltway along the C&O Canal in Montgomery County, Maryland and extended into Virginia. It was considered the largest spill of wastewater in U.S. history.

    With reports of E. coli levels thousands of times higher than the recommended limit for human contact, VDH issued the advisory about river contamination along a 72.5 mile stretch that includes the Northern Virginia area of the Potomac.

    Cleanup is expected to take four to six weeks longer than anticipated and has been marred by setbacks.

    VDH says there is no evidence of impacts to drinking water at this time.

    The advisory says to prevent recreational water illnesses due to exposure to the sewage spill, people should avoid contact with water in the advisory area and should follow advice posted on signs near river access points.

    Residents also need to avoid any area of the water where you smell a foul odor or see dead or dying fish or discolored water. If you do come into contact, wash skin immediately with soap and water and wash any items that come into contact with the water, according to the advisory.

    “When harvesting fish or crabs, discard skin, organs, cook the meat to proper temperature, and clean cutting boards and cutting implements with warm soapy water,” the advisory states.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Diane Morris

    Source link

  • DC Water CEO addresses community in wake of massive sewage spill – WTOP News

    DC Water CEO David Gaddis resolved to do everything possible to reclaim the Potomac River after last month’s disastrous sewer pipe break, he said in an open letter to the community Wednesday.

    D.C. Water CEO David Gaddis resolved to do everything possible to reclaim the Potomac River after last month’s disastrous sewer pipe break, he said in an open letter to the community Wednesday.

    The failure in a section of a 72-inch sewer pipe, known as the Potomac Interceptor, resulted in the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river just inside the Beltway along the C&O Canal in Montgomery County, Maryland. It’s considered the largest spill of wastewater in U.S. history.

    “The Potomac River is a shared natural treasure, and any event that threatens its health understandably causes concern, frustration, and a sense of loss. Those feelings are not only valid — but they are also shared by all of us at DC Water,” Gaddis said in the letter.

    The letter went onto explain that on Jan. 19, crews noticed unusual activity in security cameras monitoring an odor control facility along the C&O Canal. Upon inspection, crews discovered the break.

    In the days since the discovery, D.C. Water personnel and contractors worked to “contain the overflow, protect public safety, and begin repairs.”

    A bypass system was constructed to pump waste around the damaged area of the pipe and reinsert it into a section of the structure downstream.

    Complicating the repairs was the discovery last week of a large rock dam blocking a significant section of the pipe about 30 feet south of the break. D.C. Water is waiting for five large capacity pumps to arrive from Texas and Florida to increase pumping capacity. They then plan to build a bulkhead near the break to divert more water so workers can safely remove the boulders.

    D.C. Water expects this to take up to an extra six weeks to accomplish.

    Gaddis noted that DC Water will be dedicating resources not only to the repairs but also to an environmental restoration program to mitigate the damage that’s already been done.

    The letter detailed a $625 million investment to rehabilitate the Potomac Interceptor as part of a 10-year, $10 billion Capital Improvement Program.

    Gaddis pointed out that several tunnels they’ve built along the Northeast Boundary, and are currently building along the Potomac, have resulted in billions of gallons of combined sewage being prevented from entering the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers through the utility’s Clean Rivers Project.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Alan Etter

    Source link

  • Anacostia High School closed after sewage spill floods boiler room, kitchen – WTOP News

    Anacostia High School students were dismissed early at noon on Monday due to a sewage spill that flooded the school over the weekend.

    Anacostia High School students were dismissed early at noon on Monday due to a sewage spill that flooded the school over the weekend.

    In a letter sent home to families on Monday, Principal Kenneth Walker wrote that while work was underway for DC Water’s Capital Improvement Program in the area, a water and sewage backup occurred, pumping raw sewage into the school and at least 10 nearby homes on Fairlawn Avenue SE.

    A spokesperson from DC Water told WTOP in an email that the incident occurred on Sunday “due to a pump malfunction during work on the Anacostia Main Interceptor.”

    “We deeply regret the inconvenience this has caused and are providing temporary housing for affected residents while the cleanup is completed,” they said. “Additional steps are being taken to investigate and address the cause of the pump failure and prevent future issues.”

    Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Tom Donohue said in a video on Facebook that at one point there was over six feet of raw sewage inside one of the school’s elevator shafts. He pointed out that the basement of the school flooded, as well as its cafeteria and kitchen.

    “This will be sanitized and cleaned. All the stuff that had touched boxes or anything that could have seeped the spores of the sewage will be thrown away. It’s a lot of work to do,” Donohue said.

    In the background of the video, Walker can be heard saying that students were to be evacuated and would receive their phones and eat lunch outside.

    The school was cleared to remain open on Monday with the kitchen and cafeteria out of service, but school leaders made the decision to dismiss students early due to “lingering odors in the building.”

    The school’s day care and after school services and activities were also canceled and closed. The school remained closed on Tuesday.

    At a community meeting on Tuesday night, Donohue confirmed to WTOP that Anacostia High families received word that students will return to classes but at nearby Kramer Middle School at 8:15 a.m.

    “This will be a significant shift in our learning environment, so we have worked alongside Kramer’s school leader, Principal (Katreena) Shelby, to plan and ensure a successful day for all our scholars,” Principal Walker wrote in an email Tuesday night.

    SERVPRO services were contracted to clean, disinfect and dry out the impacted areas of the high school. Walker added that contractors from the Department of General Services and officials from DC Water are using air scrubbers and dehumidifiers to “remove excess moisture … and mitigate odors in the building.”

    Once the cleaning and sanitization is complete, they will conduct air quality tests, Walker wrote.

    “We remain eager to return to our building as soon as we receive the all-clear to do so,” he said.

    Alan Salas, a project manager and civil engineer with DC Water, also spoke at the Tuesday night meeting, sharing information about the Fairlawn project. He said the pump failure is still under investigation.

    “That’s part of our planning, to make sure that nothing like this occurs. But it seems that we still don’t know what the issue was,” he said. “For some reason, those pumps didn’t turn on.”

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Ciara Wells

    Source link