See broken sewer pipes on the Potomac River being repaired
Collapsed sewer pipes continue to spill raw sewage into the Potomac River, making it one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history.
CABIN JOHN, Md. – When a collapsed pipe began spewing millions of gallons of sewage into a beloved waterway near the close-knit community of Cabin John, word spread like wildfire.
So was the smell.
As temperatures rise after heavy winter storms, a foul odor wafts through the homes closest to the Potomac River, making what is considered the area’s calmest neighborhood feel “like Port-a-John,” said Jack Mandel, who has lived in the area since the turn of the century.
“Typically, I go there probably four or five days a week, at least for an afternoon,” Mandel said. “And we have a dog and a child, so we don’t want anyone near that.”
The community, which Mandel jokingly describes as “crunchy,” is home to miles of walking and biking trails, canoeing and kayaking enthusiasts, and more than half a dozen community and environmental groups. The Potomac Interceptor sewer system has been a source of concern for decades, with the largest sewage spill in U.S. history raising concerns among residents about the lasting impact on the river.
DC Water, the utility authority that operates the Potomac Interceptor, says there have been no new sewage overflows in the river since Jan. 29. However, local researchers say they detected high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens in the river, including bacteria that cause E. coli and staph infections.
“The environmental impact of this would be pretty devastating,” said Mandel, president of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy.
Local residents “heartbroken” after sewage spill
Phillip Gray enjoyed paddling the river in a canoe and floating in an inner tube as he headed toward his home in Cabin John, beer in hand. But nearby waterways have nicknames like “Puptomac” and “Schitt’s Creek” after popular TV shows, so they won’t be in the river for a while.
More than 200 million gallons of wastewater flowed into the Potomac River after a portion of the Potomac Interceptor, a sewer system in Washington, D.C., outside Montgomery County, Maryland, collapsed on January 19. Video from the scene shows sewage gushing out of the ground, flowing into a typically dry section of a nearby canal and then flowing into the Potomac River.
Gray, a former president of the Cabin John Civic Association, received an email about the flooding from a friend shortly after it happened and went to see it for himself. He said the sewage spill was “astounding.”
“When I walk around and smell something, it hits my nose,” he says. “After 20 minutes, you’re wondering, ‘Is the smell still there?'”
Olympic canoeist David Hahn has been paddling this river for almost 60 years. The day after the collapse, he and his wife rode their bicycles along the canal and were shocked by what they saw.
“We are just heartbroken over this,” Hahn said. “This is a crown jewel of Mother Nature, white waters, calm waters and outdoor activities.”
‘Hope is gone’ for quick resolution
This isn’t the first time Interceptor has caused headaches for the community. Decades ago, Gray said, strong odors leaked into cabin johns through vents along the interceptor, and community leaders fought to make sure charcoal filters designed to control odors were properly maintained.
“I thought this might be the last time I would ever smell gas coming from a sewer interceptor,” he said. “But that’s not the case. Twenty-six years later, here we are.”
And it seems the problem still remains. Pumps have been installed to divert sewage around the collapsed pipe, leaving the area in what Mr Gray described as an “open canal sewer situation”.
Actual repairs to the pipe are estimated to take four to six weeks and cannot begin until a stronger bypass system is activated and the giant boulders blocking the interceptor are removed one by one.
“You can’t just vacuum it out, you can’t just go in with your big claws and excavate where you can dig it out… you can’t pull it all out. You could potentially cause another collapse, and we don’t want that,” said Shelly Lewis, a spokeswoman for DC Water, looking down at the work site.
Heidi Lewis, co-president of the Cabin John Civic Association, said seeing the deluge recede initially gave her hope, but now “it seems like that hope has faded a little bit.”
Once the Interceptor is fully operational, DC Water will accelerate plans to repair more than 2,700 linear feet of pipe over a nine- to 10-month period, “significantly enhancing its reliability for years to come.”
But Heidi Lewis is hopeful that the disaster will prompt DC Water to explore further wastewater solutions.
“It became clear that the 60-year-old pipes didn’t really have the capacity to withstand the increased loads,” she says. “And we hope that this disaster will cause us to consider more long-term planning for how to address community growth.”
A small suburb in the spotlight nationwide
And now, the troubles that erupted at Cabin John are attracting national attention. Nearly a month after the spill, President Donald Trump criticized Democrats and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for their cleanup efforts.
In a Feb. 16 post on Truth Social, President Trump said he was directing federal authorities to “immediately take the necessary controls, direction, and coordination to protect the Potomac River, the Metropolitan Water Supply, and the precious national resources in our nation’s capital.” He ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has undergone significant staffing cuts during Trump’s second term, to coordinate its response.
Moore’s press secretary, Anmar Moussa, accused the Trump administration of “shirking responsibility” but promised “as always, we will respond collaboratively and keep the public informed about the federal government’s remediation plans.”
Some residents seemed open to the possibility of accepting aid from FEMA. But Mandel said the president’s comments were “really depressing” and that he doesn’t believe the pipeline issue is a partisan issue.
“This is purely an environmental disaster that needs to be addressed by concerned people,” he says.
Contributor: Rebecca Morin
