Trump sends feds to protect Potomac River after sewage leak, blames Moore

Listen to this article

President Donald Trump said Monday that federal authorities will respond to a major sewage spill that occurred four weeks ago in the Potomac River, which flows between Maryland, Washington and Virginia.

In a post on his social network, Truth Social, Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would play a key role in a response involving “Management, Direction, and Coordination” to protect the Potomac. FEMA is one of the agencies affected by the current partial government shutdown; in past shutdowns, its employees have largely been required to work without pay.

White House officials did not immediately respond to questions about what the federal response to the spill would entail.

Trump blamed “local Democrat leaders” for “gross mismanagement” in his post, and he singled out Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, suggesting the Democrat is incapable of handling the situation. On Air Force One on Monday afternoon en route to Washington from Mar-a-Lago, Trump again criticized Moore.

“I don’t like the fact that he did that horrible, you know, with the pipes and the Potomac, and he’s not doing the job,” Trump said. “I’m going to have to get the federal government involved in getting it fixed, because he can’t fix anything.”

Moore, who often spars with Trump, accused the president of using the Potomac as a “talking point” and said the Environmental Protection Agency refused to participate in a major hearing about the cleanup Friday.

“If the federal government is just now showing up to take action, we will work collaboratively – as we always do – to be responsive and keep the public informed about the federal government’s plan to remediate the damage,” Moore said in a statement.

A spokesperson for D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, declined to comment on Trump’s post.

A 200 million-gallon spill of raw sewage was discovered on Jan. 19 when security cameras captured the collapse of a large pipeline, called the Potomac Interceptor, near the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County.

Officials were able to stop the flow of waste into the river within a week of the pipeline’s failure, according to D.C. Water chief executive David L. Gadis. The utility, based in Washington, owns and operates the pipeline.

According to Brookie Crawford, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Health, there was an additional spill on Feb. 7 as D.C. Water crews worked to deal with the sewage. Crawford said Virginia is “expecting the potential” for more spills as D.C. officials repair the pipe. A spokesperson for D.C. Water said the emergency repairs to the pipeline could take four to six weeks.

Although Trump said in his post that “State and Local Authorities have failed to request needed Emergency Help,” Gadis said in a statement that his agency is coordinating with federal partners on the response to the spill.

“We have been coordinating with U.S. EPA since the Potomac Interceptor collapsed and appreciate the ongoing support and counsel they have provided,” Gadis said. “Continued regional and federal partnership can help restore and strengthen one of the most critical water assets in the region.”

Initial testing revealed high levels of E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria that causes Staph infections, in water near where the pipeline burst, according to scientists from the University of Maryland and researchers with the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. E. coli levels were found to be more than 10,000 times above EPA recreational water quality standards.

Those results led to criticism of local leaders’ initial response, with some environmentalists and scientists arguing that officials should have immediately issued advisories to the public to avoid recreational contact with the water. Those advisories came last week.

“People coming into contact with the impacted water or land are at risk of becoming infected with these bacteria, which can lead to serious health conditions,” Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein, a microbiologist and assistant professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health, said in a statement. “Although most people are not swimming in the frozen river in February, bacteria can survive in freezing temperatures and become active again when temperatures rise.”

Water samples taken Thursday from a site downstream of the leak showed that E. coli levels were still more than 250 times the recreational limit, according to data posted by D.C. Water.

On Friday, the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) said drinking water is not affected by the sewage spill but warned the public – and pets – to “avoid unnecessary contact with water from the Potomac River.” Officials also advised people to not fish in the river and told boaters to avoid the water “until additional test results come in.”

Officials said that if “you touch the water, wash hands and any gear that comes in contact with the water promptly and thoroughly.”

In its statement, DOEE said that D.C. Water started daily bacteria monitoring at six locations on Jan. 29 and that DOEE has “increased the frequency of E. coli monitoring from monthly to weekly and is exploring partnerships to add more locations.”

The department added that it plans to do fish and wildlife surveys beginning as early as late February to understand the scale of the spill’s effects.

In Maryland, officials have temporarily closed off a shellfish harvesting area in response to the sewage spill. Montgomery, Prince George’s and Charles counties have issued health advisories, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has provided advisories to anglers and hunters. Virginia Department of Health officials issued a recreational water advisory, as well, warning people and pets to stay out of the river for “swimming, wading, tubing, white-water canoeing or kayaking.”

The Virginia advisory area, the department said, “extends for 72.5 miles from the American Legion Memorial Bridge (I-495) in Fairfax County to the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge (Route 301) in King George County.”

Carolyn Johnson is a science reporter. She previously covered the business of health and the affordability of health care to consumers. Email: [email protected]. Signal: carojo.55

Dana Hedgpeth is a Native American journalist who has been at The Post for 25 years. She is an enrolled member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina. At The Post, she has covered topics including Native Americans and their history, Pentagon spending, the U.S. defense industry, and the local rail and bus systems, governments and courts.

Joe Heim joined The Washington Post in 1999. He is a staff writer for the Metro section.

Cleve R. Wootson Jr. contributed to this report.