DC Sewage Breach Sends Poop Gushing Into Potomac, Causes Dangerous Contamination

The Potomac River was found to have dangerously high levels of E. coli bacteria when water sample tests were conducted following a sewage pipe rupture, ARLnow reported.

A section of the Potomac Interceptor, which holds up to 60 million gallons of wastewater from Maryland and Virginia, broke on Jan. 19, pumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river, The New York Times (NYT) reported. A water sample taken from Fletcher’s Cove in Washington, D.C. on Friday by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) recorded the bacteria level to be 60 times higher than what is considered safe for human contact, according to ARLnow.

PRKN president Betsy Nicholas announced in a press release Monday that the measurements of E. coli bacteria show contamination 12,000 times what authorities limit for human contact.

“Almost 300 million gallons have entered the Potomac River,” said Nicholas in the Monday press release. “The long term impact cannot be overstated. We measured against the standards established by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality and Maryland’s Department of the Environment.”

“Our sample data collected right at the sewage outflow revealed shockingly high numbers that could have long term impacts to water quality,” said Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks in the press release. “The vile and putrid smell from the torrent of sewage discharging to the Potomac River for eight straight days is one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen in 25 years as a Riverkeeper.”