House probes 240M‑gallon Potomac spill

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee opened Congress’s first hearing on the Potomac Interceptor collapse on May 20, four months after a 72-inch sewer line failed in Montgomery County, Maryland and sent an estimated 243 million gallons of untreated wastewater into the Potomac River. NBC Washington reported that lawmakers focused on whether the collapse could have been prevented and why residents near the spill site still say the smell remains unbearable. (nbcwashington.com) The hearing was titled “Corrosion, Collapse, and Clean-Up: Examining the Potomac Interceptor Collapse,” according to the committee memo. (mde.maryland.gov) The spill began on January 19, when the Potomac Interceptor breached near the Clara Barton Parkway and Lock 12 in the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Maryland’s environment department says the pipe was repaired and restored to normal operations on March 14, but remediation and sampling have continued. EPA says raw sewage overflowed into the river until a bypass came online on January 24. ### Why did lawmakers focus so heavily on permits? NBC Washington reported that much of the questioning centered on the National Park Service and what lawmakers described as an eight-year delay in approving permits for maintenance work that might have prevented the collapse. (nbcwashington.com) The outlet said DC Water officials had acknowledged after the break that they knew in 2018 the 54-mile underground sewer line needed critical repairs. Rep. Brett Guthrie, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the full committee, asked National Park Service deputy superintendent Edward Wenschhof whether the threat had ever been treated as imminent. (mde.maryland.gov) Wenschhof replied that the specifics before the collapse were subject to litigation, according to NBC Washington. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, pressed the same point, asking whether DC Water had sought fast-track permits in 2018 to repair corrosion and detached rebar near the rupture. ### What was DC Water already saying about the pipe’s condition? March 2 testimony by DC Water General Manager David Gadis showed the failed section had been rated in poor condition and in need of repair twice in the last five years, NBC Washington reported at the time. (nbcwashington.com) The same report said two additional sections in the same area were also rated in poor condition. DC Water later released a condition assessment on March 5 describing four inspections over seven years and saying they showed aging signs including exposed aggregate and surface reinforcement, but not an imminent risk of structural failure. EPA says the Potomac Interceptor carries up to 60 million gallons of wastewater a day from parts of Virginia and Maryland to DC Water’s Blue Plains treatment plant. That made the pipe both a regional trunk line and a single point of failure once the damaged segment gave way. ### What has happened since the collapse? April 20 brought a federal Clean Water Act complaint from the Justice Department, on behalf of EPA, against DC Water and the District of Columbia. The complaint seeks financial penalties, rehabilitation projects and an enhanced operations and maintenance plan for all sewer lines, according to the Justice Department. Maryland also has oversight of remediation and ongoing water-quality and sediment sampling. (nbcwashington.com) March advisories changed as testing improved. The District’s Department of Energy and Environment said on March 23 that the Potomac River advisory had been lifted in the District and that drinking water remained safe because the intake is upstream at Great Falls. (epa.gov) Maryland said active drinking-water intakes were upstream and unaffected, though a partial recreational advisory remained in Montgomery County. ### Why are residents still showing up months later? May 21 coverage from NBC Washington said residents near the spill site were still coping with persistent odor even as lawmakers questioned agency officials in Washington. That kept the hearing from being only a technical review of pipe ratings, permits and bypass pumps. (justice.gov) It also put cleanup, communication and neighborhood conditions back into the same discussion. Last week, EPA said crews had finished removing contaminated soil and debris and restoring impacted areas along the river, while DC Water continued targeted soil remediation between Locks 10 and 11 of the C&O Canal with completion expected by the end of May. (doee.dc.gov) EPA, Maryland regulators and DC Water are still posting updates as the lawsuits and oversight inquiries continue. (wusa9.com) (nbcwashington.com)