{"id":537058,"date":"2026-03-15T01:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T01:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/537058\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T01:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T01:47:09","slug":"pipe-repaired-after-massive-leak-of-raw-waste-into-the-potomac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/537058\/","title":{"rendered":"Pipe repaired after massive leak of raw waste into the Potomac"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The massive sewage pipe that ruptured<\/a> and leaked millions of gallons of raw waste into the Potomac River returned to operation Saturday after the completion of emergency repairs.<\/p>\n

DC Water, the utility that runs Washington\u2019s water and sewage systems, reported that it had completed testing to determine whether the 72-inch diameter pipe could handle the flow.<\/p>\n

The Potomac Interceptor ruptured on Jan. 19, sending 250 million gallons of untreated sewage into the river just north of the nation\u2019s capital over the first five days.<\/p>\n

The utility worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies to repair the leak and monitor the ecological impact on the river. Other work on the pipe and system could take months.<\/p>\n

Drinking water was never in jeopardy, but recreational use by anglers, boaters and others on the Potomac has been closely monitored because of concerns over the presence of deadly bacteria that can be passed along through direct contact with the water.<\/p>\n

A class action lawsuit was filed<\/a> March 6 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, accusing DC Water with negligence. <\/p>\n

Plaintiff Nicholas Lailas, a Virginia resident and recreational boat user on the Potomac, is seeking compensation for people \u201cwhose property interests in and use and enjoyment of the Potomac River … have been impaired by Defendant\u2019s conduct,\u201d the lawsuit said. It did not specify a damage amount.<\/p>\n

The spill occurred in Montgomery County, Maryland, along Clara Barton Parkway, which hugs the northern edge of the Potomac River near the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. It became a serious environmental issue and the focus of political bickering<\/a> between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic-led Maryland.<\/p>\n

\u201cFull flow has been restored and the C&O Canal has been fully drained as part of site restoration,\u201d DC Water said in a post on X. \u201cSince Jan 19, crews worked around the clock to stabilize the site and protect the Potomac River. <\/p>\n

The District of Columbia\u2019s mayor, Muriel Bowser, declared an emergency<\/a> Feb. 18 and requested that Trump provide federal resources, days after he chided Democratic leaders in Maryland, Washington and Virginia for not requesting help. He approved the emergency assistance<\/a> quickly to help the city address the emergency.<\/p>\n

Betsy Nicholas, president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, said the situation \u201ccould have been so much worse given the vulnerability of our drinking water system\u201d in the district, Montgomery County and Virginia\u2019s Arlington County.<\/p>\n

Nicholas said the incident highlights the need for ecological assessments and remediation efforts, including natural solutions such as freshwater mussels and native aquatic plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need assurances that this isn\u2019t going to happen again, that there\u2019s going to be full inspection of the entire remaining system,\u201d Nicholas said.<\/p>\n

DC Water is holding a series of meetings with the public to discuss updates on the repair and environmental rehabilitation, including ones next week in Bethesda, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The massive sewage pipe that ruptured and leaked millions of gallons of raw waste into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[210061,49,48,2848,2847,20756,8930,1376,295,2841,1451,11906,197964,210062,66,18391,2845,14237,4137,8615,17979,121727,47813],"class_list":["post-537058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-betsy-nicholas","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-climate","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-dc-wire","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-environment","tag-general-news","tag-maryland","tag-md-state-wire","tag-muriel-bowser","tag-nicholas-lailas","tag-science","tag-u-s-environmental-protection-agency","tag-u-s-news","tag-utilities","tag-virginia","tag-washington-news","tag-waste-management","tag-water-quality","tag-waterways"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}