WASHINGTON — President Trump is taking action to “drain the swamp” quite literally.
On Monday, he directed federal agencies to step in and manage cleanup operations along the Potomac River after a significant sewer pipe burst last month due to a cold snap.
The ruptured pipe, owned by DC Water and situated in Cabin John, Maryland, just outside Washington, collapsed on January 19. Since the collapse, approximately 243 million gallons of raw sewage have spilled into the surrounding area as of February 6, according to the utility company.
Trump took to Truth Social to criticize the handling of the situation, stating, “A major ecological disaster is happening in the Potomac River due to the gross mismanagement by local Democratic leaders, especially Maryland Governor Wes Moore.”
He continued, “Local authorities are clearly unable to manage this crisis effectively. Therefore, I am instructing federal agencies to provide immediate management, direction, and coordination to safeguard the Potomac River, the water supply for the Capital Region, and our cherished natural resources in the nation’s capital.”
Local officials have suggested that repairing the damaged section of the 54-mile Potomac Interceptor (PI) sewer line could potentially take up to 10 months.
In the meantime, DC Water crews have scrambled to divert much of the sewage flow.
The Potomac Interceptor system, which is more than six decades old, carries about 60 million gallons of sewage each day from Dulles Airport in northern Virginia through DC.
The water then goes through Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, near the District’s southern border with Maryland, for cleaning before getting discharged into the Potomac.
“Since the last century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor, which is the origin of the sewage leak,” Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Moore, told The Post. “For the last four weeks, the Trump Administration has failed to act, shirking its responsibility and putting people’s health at risk.”
Experts have dubbed the break one of the largest sewage spills in US history.
Much of the overflow into the Potomac River is believed to have transpired in the first five days after the pipe burst, when about 200 million gallons of wastewater, roughly 2% of the river’s flow, were unleashed.
Local officials have insisted that the sewage spill hasn’t impacted the safety of drinking water.
DC Water has claimed that with one exception, “all downstream sampling locations” were within the EPA’s acceptable range of E. Coli exposure as of Feb. 5, and that bacteria levels have since trended downwards.
Still, last week, DC officials warned residents to “not touch the Potomac River, or engage in any Potomac recreational activities, including fishing.”
The section of the Potomac Interceptor that was affected had been allocated to recieve $600 million for upgrades, The Hill reported.
“While State and Local Authorities have failed to request needed Emergency Help, I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone,” Trump chided.
“As we saw in the Palisades [in California], the Democrat War on Merit has real consequences,” he continued. “The Federal Government has no choice, but to step in. FEMA, which is currently being defunded by the Democrats, will play a key role in coordinating the response.”
