Officials lift Potomac River health advisory, urge people to avoid areas near sewer pipe collapse

Montgomery County has lifted its health advisory for the Potomac River, but local health officials are still urging people to avoid areas closest to where the Potomac Interceptor sewer pipe collapsed in January.

Despite ending the advisory, Dr. Kisha Davis, the county’s health officer, has urged people to continue avoiding the shoreline and river sediment between Lock 11 and the area surrounding Minnie’s Island, just downstream of the collapse site.

“It’s important to keep children and pets away from these specific environments,” Davis said in a recent statement.

The break on Jan. 19 of the Potomac Interceptor, a pipe 6 feet in diameter, resulted in one of the largest wastewater spills in modern U.S. history. Over the ensuing weeks, the broken pipe released hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage onto National Park Service land and into the Potomac River.

Maryland’s attorney general and Department of the Environment have sued DC Water, alleging that the water and sewer authority for the District of Columbia knew the aging pipeline had shown signs corrosion but failed to properly assess risks and also delayed improvements.

The concentration of E. coli in the Potomac near where the pipe collapsed declined in the weeks after crews contained the wastewater spill, but many county residents have feared long-term damage to the river and the shoreline.

Local residents have said the smell of sewage continues to linger, too, according to WTOP’s report from a Monday night meeting in nearby Glen Echo.

In lifting the county’s health advisory, Davis said ongoing water quality monitoring has shown that bacteria levels have returned to “acceptable parameters” and regularly fall within limits the federal Environmental Protection Agency deems safe.

Davis said that while water conditions have improved enough for people to resume kayaking and rowing on the river, some shoreline areas near the collapse site may still be unsafe for human contact because of sewage contaminating the soil or sediment.

She also said people should keep their pets from roaming along these areas until crews have finished remediating and testing.