BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Clean water advocates urged officials to take stronger action on public health warnings after a sewage spill sent high levels of bacteria and pathogens into the Potomac River, raising what they describe as urgent health concerns for the public.
During an interview on FOX45 News In Depth with Mikenzie Frost, Potomac Riverkeeper Network President Betsy Nicholas said the response from leaders has been “mixed,” praising D.C. Water and the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority for quickly getting to the site and working to set up a bypass, but criticizing what she called a lack of leadership on public health concerns.
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Nicholas said the spill occurred in a residential area on National Park Service land, where many people live nearby. She said the group has heard from people who were fishing in the days before a “giant ice storm” and did not know about the spill, then became sick.
“So it probably wasn’t the fish,” Nicholas said. “It was probably the water they were in contact with when fishing.” She added that the group is “pretty frustrated that it’s taken as long as it has to get those warnings out to people so that they can stay safe,” noting that the area near the spill includes a popular fishing spot.
On whether the spill is contained, Nicholas said she would call it “partially contained” because an effective bypass is in place, but she said calling it contained is “a pretty big overstatement.” She described the bypass as using smaller pipes than the original pipeline, which makes for a temporary but ultimately unsustainable solution. Nicholas said the bypass has reduced the amount of sewage entering the river, but she does not consider the situation fully contained because of the open-air canal and the risk of additional overflows.
Nicholas also raised concerns about long-term impacts, saying repairs and replacement could take up to nine months, with a temporary fix expected sooner. She said the spill has caused “stigma damage” to the Potomac River, with an oyster hatching business and a blue catfish fishery among the businesses reporting negative impacts, despite their products being unaffected by the spill itself.
“But there’s sewage all over the place right now on the banks of the river,” Nicholas said, adding that she visited the area and “sterilized myself quite heavily before coming back into my house.”
Nicholas said cleanup will take time and that it will be a long process to restore the river’s health.