Crews with D.C. Water are continuing to try to divert millions of gallons of sewage and wastewater from the Potomac River after the failure of a 6-foot sewer line last week.
The collapse of the pipe, called the Potomac Interceptor, which carries up to 40 million gallons of sewage and wastewater each day, led to crews establishing a workaround involving the installation of pumps and diversion of the waste into the C&O Canal, according to Sherry Lewis, spokesperson for D.C. Water.
The break occurred in a portion of the interceptor near the Interstate 495 interchange and the Clara Barton Parkway near the C&O Canal National Historical Park.
鈥淭his is a dry section of the canal that is contained,鈥� Lewis explained.
She said the wastewater is being channeled downstream from the break, and back into the Potomac Interceptor.
By Monday, the crews were able to make significant progress in redirecting the flow of the wastewater, Lewis said.
鈥淭here is some residual wastewater in that area that needs to drain,” she added.
Lewis clarified that D.C.鈥檚 drinking water is not affected by the millions of gallons of untreated wastewater that were released by the collapse of the Interceptor.
鈥淭he drinking water is safe. There is no impact to it from this overflow,” she said. 鈥淭he primary intake for the Washington Aqueduct鈥檚 drinking water supply is in Great Falls, so it is not anywhere close to where this overflow occurred.”
Lewis said the timeline for how long it might be before the 72-inch pipe could be repaired hasn鈥檛 been determined.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not an overnight fix when you鈥檙e talking about a 72-inch, 6- foot-diameter sewer pipe,” she said.
While D.C. Water cited progress on stemming the sewage flow in frigid temperatures, Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks told 海角精品黑料, 鈥淲e鈥檙e grateful that the flow has been reduced, but there鈥檚 still raw sewage that鈥檚 coming into the Potomac River.”
鈥淚f this happened in the summer, I can assure you the entire river would be closed for public access and there would be public health notifications,鈥� he said.
The National Park Service and D.C. Water have posted signs in the area notifying passersby that raw sewage poses a contamination hazard.
A news release from the Potomac Riverkeeper Network showed what the group called a 鈥渃atastrophic impact鈥� on the health of the Potomac River. Testing by Naujoks鈥� group Friday showed the presence of E. coli at nearly 12,000 times the amount allowed for safe human contact.
鈥淚nfrastructure failure is at the root of this disaster,” Naujoks said in the news release. 鈥淭he interceptor pipe 鈥� should have been better maintained in order to avoid this catastrophe.鈥�
D.C. Water issued a saying it鈥檚 allocated $625 million in its Capital Improvement Program to rehabilitate the Potomac Interceptor over the next 10 years.
In the same statement, D.C. Water said it鈥檚 been working closely with federal, state and local partners, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, Washington Aqueduct, D.C.鈥檚 Department of Energy and the Environment and Maryland鈥檚 Department of the Environment, among others.
鈥淭ogether, we are coordinating efforts to contain the overflow, monitor and assess environmental impacts, and keep the public informed,” the release said.
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