U.S. Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) recently joined colleagues on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee in seeking details about what led to a recent sewage spill in the Potomac River near the nation’s capital and how it’s being contained.
The incident “is already being referred to as ‘one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history,’” wrote Rep. Joyce and two of his Republican committee colleagues in a Feb. 20 letter sent to DC Water CEO and General Manager David Gadis.
DC Water, which is handling the repairs to the pipe, responded to a Jan. 19 sewer line collapse in Montgomery County, Md., in the Washington, D.C., suburbs that caused an overflow of more than 200 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River.
The company completed a bypass on Jan. 24 to reroute wastewater around the collapsed section of pipe and back into the sewer system.
However, earlier this month, additional overflows occurred, according to DC Water, which is responsible for delivering drinking water and wastewater services to communities in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C., as well as the federal government.
“The committee has concerns about how this incident will impact public health, safe drinking water, the environment, interstate commerce, and tourism, all of which fall within the committee’s jurisdiction,” wrote the members, who noted that public health warnings have been issued for people and pets to avoid contact with water from the river and to avoid fishing, rowing, and other activities in the area due to high E. Coli bacteria levels in the Potomac River.
On Feb. 18, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower officially declared the incident to be a local public emergency and requested federal intervention to assist with damage mitigation.
“An incident of this size and scale presents a significant threat to the public health and welfare of the affected communities, and swift mitigation of these risks is critical,” Rep. Joyce and his colleagues wrote. “Understanding the nature of how this incident occurred and how future incidents of this scale may be prevented in the future is imperative.”
As part of their oversight authority, the Energy and Commerce Committee members requested information by March 6 from DC Water, including what it knew about the risk of a potential spill prior to January; documents discussing why emergency contracting was warranted to repair the pipe; why any approved contracts were not implemented; and what actions have been taken to address the environmental impacts of the spill.