Trump says FEMA will handle Potomac River sewage spill cleanup

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the federal government "has no choice, but to step in" after a collapsed sewer pipe sent nearly 250 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River last month.

A sewer pipe near the I-495 and Clara Barton Parkway interchange collapsed on Jan. 19, sending wastewater into the ground, the C&O Canal, and the Potomac River. The sewer system, called the Potomac Interceptor, was built in the early 1960s and carried around 60 million gallons of wastewater daily to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.

DC Water, when asked for comment, did not directly acknowledge the president in its statement. They acknowledged ongoing cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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