Questions are being raised about whether D.C. is downplaying the health risks and ongoing environmental damage caused by a sewage pipe that ruptured, sending millions of gallons of wastewater in the Potomac River.<\/p>\n
D.C. Water says new high-capacity bypass pumps are expected to arrive Friday at the site of last month\u2019s sewer pipe break that has poured millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River.<\/p>\n
However, questions are being raised about whether the public is being adequately informed about health risks and ongoing environmental damage.<\/p>\n
In an open letter this week, D.C. Water CEO David Gaddis resolved to do everything possible<\/a> to reclaim the Potomac, following the initial Jan. 17 failure of a 72-inch sewer pipe, known as the Potomac Interceptor.<\/p>\n But data collected by researchers suggests the D.C. government may be downplaying the dangers of the spill, according to a local environmentalist with the Potomac Riverkeeper nonprofit.<\/p>\n Researchers with the University of Maryland say they\u2019ve been testing the water once a week since Jan. 21.<\/p>\n \u201cEven last week we\u2019re still measuring E.coli 4,000 times above recreational water quality standards,\u201d said Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein, a professor at the University of Maryland\u2019s Department of Global, Environmental and Occupational Health.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve also detected Staphylococcus aureus and the antibiotic resistant strain of staph aureus, which is called MRSA,\u201d Goldstein told WTOP\u2019s Nick Iannelli.<\/p>\n The findings pose a substantial danger to humans, Goldstein said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really important for public health, because people who interact with the water, and potentially with the lands that was impacted by the water, could become infected with those bacteria,\u201d Goldstein said.<\/p>\n The recent ice has frozen the risk in place, but warmer weather could exacerbate the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cBacteria can survive in a lot of different types of environments,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cWastewater sewage is a type of environment that\u2019s very favorable for bacteria growth. So especially as we see the temperature changing and we see the snow following, it\u2019s really important that we continue to follow what\u2019s happening with the water quality over time.\u201d<\/p>\n Potomac Riverkeeper: DC is \u2018sitting on its hands\u2019<\/p>\n The gravity of the public health and environmental risk is being underplayed, according to Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper, which is part of the nonprofit network dedicated to protecting the public\u2019s right to clean, safe water in the Potomac and Shenandoah watersheds.<\/p>\n