President Trump said on Monday that he is sending federal authorities and activating the Federal Emergency Management Agency to clean up a massive sewage spill into the Capital’s Potomac River.
The sewage spill from Montgomery County, Maryland, north of DC, which began on January 19, 2026, was estimated to have discharged nearly 300 million gallons of sewage into the famed river. Meanwhile, DC officials still do not have a handle on the crisis, which is killing wildlife and ruining plans for recreation on the river.
“It is clear Local Authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity. Therefore, I am directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City,” Trump said. “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 highlighted the sewage spill, slamming Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore for his “Gross Mismanagement” of the situation, adding, “This is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a Bridge.”
“As we saw in the Palisades, the Democrat War on Merit has real consequences. The Federal Government has no choice, but to step in,” Trump said, pointing to the Pacific Pallisades fires in California last year, which were allowed to burn, killing 12 and causing $51.7 billion worth of damage, including over 11,000 residential properties, 6,833 structures, and over 23,000 acres.
“FEMA, which is currently being defunded by the Democrats, will play a key role in coordinating the response,” he continued, noting that the Democrats have defunded the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA in another partial government shutdown.
Full statement below:
There is a massive Ecological Disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland. A sewer line breach in Maryland has caused millions of gallons of raw sewage to be dumped directly into the Potomac River, a result of incompetent Local and State Management of Essential Waste Management Systems. This is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a Bridge.
It is clear Local Authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity. Therefore, I am directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City. 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.
As we saw in the Palisades, the Democrat War on Merit has real consequences. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
Per the Izaak Walton League of America:
A catastrophic sewage spill, described by officials as one of the largest in U.S. history, is currently ongoing into the Potomac River. On January 19, a sanitary sewer overflow collapsed in Montgomery County, Maryland and began discharging raw sewage into the Potomac River near Lock 10 (Cabin John, MD). Since then, the 6-foot pipe has been releasing 40-60 million gallons of raw sewage per day.
The pipe, which carries wastewater from areas near Dulles Airport in Virginia to the Potomac Pumping Station and then the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C., is under the jurisdiction of DC Water. It is part of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line, which was built in the 1960’s and had already been identified as in need of refurbishment, with a multiyear, multimillion-dollar repair on the horizon.
“This sewage spill is of an order of magnitude that is hard to even comprehend,” says Sam Puckett, Clean Water Program Director at the Izaak Walton League of America. “This should serve as a wake-up call for municipalities and government agencies across the country. Our aging infrastructure requires proactive maintenance and funding to ensure the safety of our communities, the health of our environment, and the vitality of the industries that depend on a clean river.”
According to DC Water, they have not yet been able to fully assess the damage and there is not yet a timeline for repair. In the meantime, a bypass system of pumps was activated to temporarily divert the flow into the C&O Canal and then back into the sewer system. This has significantly reduced, but not completely halted, the flow of sewage into the Potomac River. Prior to the installation of the bypass, it is estimated nearly 300 million gallons of sewage were discharged into the Potomac.
This is an extreme pollution event. The Potomac Riverkeeper Network has been sampling the Potomac River near the location of the spill and found E. coli concentrations nearly 12,000 times the limit for human contact. Some fish kills have already been observed downstream, and the Maryland Department of the Environment issued an emergency closure of shellfish harvesting 60 to 70 miles downstream. It is not yet clear how long lasting and widespread the ecological impacts of the spill will be.
According to the Potomac Riverkeeper, Dean Naujoks, “We have seen no response from public health agencies to determine whether this type of raw sewage will impact public health and the environment.” This may be partly due to the time of year – if this had occurred during the summer recreation season, “they would literally have to shut the river down, and there’d be public health notifications all over the place,” said Naujoks. Although it is currently winter, there may be impacts of this event later in the year, when any sewage that is frozen or settled into the sediment is released.
There were warning signs ahead of this spill – DC Water had recently completed a repair on a section of the deteriorating pipe about a quarter mile from the rupture. Deteriorating wastewater infrastructure is an issue across the District – and the country. According to a 2022 Environmental Protection Agency survey of wastewater infrastructure, the District needs more than $1 billion within the next 20 years to make these repairs – a number which rapidly multiplies when zoomed out to the rest of the U.S. “This is something we see and will continue to see, where these pipes fail and these massive sewage dumps occur,” said Gary Belan, senior director with American Rivers, “This is why we can’t defer maintenance of our wastewater infrastructure. Too often, we’re dependent on these disasters to prod us forward.”
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