The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it is taking over water quality testing in the Potomac River after a major sewer pipeline ruptured and sent roughly 250 million gallons of human waste into the waterway.
The EPA assumes control over the river’s sampling after the District Department of Energy and Environment (DDOE) previously oversaw quality checks following the pipe burst.
D.C. Water, the utility company that manages the pipe, said last week it had repaired the crucial sewer line that ruptured Jan. 19 and sent disease-carrying bacteria into the Potomac.
“We will provide accurate, timely results to the public and continue working to ensure that repairs and remediation occur as quickly as possible,” said EPA Senior Response Officer and Assistant Administrator for Water Jess Kramer.
The federal agency said it will conduct sampling every day, with the results posted on DDOE’s webpage dedicated to tracking the pipe burst.
The EPA will also lend a hand in helping repair infrastructure, diverting stormwater and other work at the site of the rupture in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Federal authorities got involved with the river’s cleanup after President Trump declared an emergency in the Potomac last month, which complemented a local emergency declared by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Whose responsibility it was to address the crisis was briefly a political food fight, with Mr. Trump blaming the Democratic leaders in the national capital region for the lack of urgency toward the environmental disaster. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore criticized Mr. Trump for not activating federal resources sooner.
But officials have made progress on the river’s health in the weeks since then. DDOE said this month that bacteria levels had fallen to a safe level for recreational use, meaning people can go out on the water in boats, kayaks and canoes.
D.C. Water said fully replacing the aging Potomac Interceptor pipe will take most of this year.
