An environmental disaster you weren't even aware of.

The worst raw sewage spill in the history of the United States. There’s no other way to put it at this point.

On January 19th, a major sewer pipe that brings wastewater into Washington DC collapsed, and raw sewage began pouring into the river just north of the I-495 American Legion bridge by the Clara Barton Parkway. To date over 243 million gallons of raw sewage has made it into the Potomac River, making this the worst ecological disaster of this region and the largest sewage spill in the history of the country.

The Potomac Interceptor pipe, as it is named, is a 54 mile long pipe that moves about 60 million gallons of wastewater per day from as far away as Dulles Airport and Montgomery county, MD to DC’s Blue Plains water treatment plant. Once it collapsed and a leak was found, DC Water proceeded to work on repairing the damaged section. The wastewater has been detoured into the C&O Canal for .7 miles, from Lock 14 down to Lock 10 where it is pumped back into the system.

The public is being asked not to have any contact with the Potomac River until testing shows acceptable levels of E. coli and other harmful. and life threatening bacteria. Maryland has also closed the shellfish fishery from the DC line all the way to the 301 bridge. DC drinking water is not affected.

DC Water and Potomac Riverkeeper are testing the river at 6 separate sites to monitor bacteria levels. The data has shown a decrease since the initial spill, and as the snow melts and the rain continues to fall, we should hopefully have a good flush of the system. Remember the old saying about the issue - The solution to pollution is dilution.

Here is the DC Water press release can be found HERE

According to DC Water, as of February 8th the spill has been contained, but there have been and will be continued spillage until the repairs are complete. They are estimating 4-6 weeks for a complete repair.

Please DO NOT go anywhere near the Potomac for the foreseeable future. We will update you as the information becomes available. We do not know whether the fishing season will be a wash. We don’t want to speculate as to the severity of the spill, nor will we finger point at any agency, department, employee, or policies that have caused, delayed, or jeopardized the health of the public or the environment until we’re given concrete information or evidence.

How can you help? Support the Potomac Riverkeeper Network and donate HERE

Also please follow the Potomac Riverkeeper Network on Facebook and InstaGram for the most up to date information.

You can also follow the Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks on Facebook.

From Riverkeeper February 12: