DC Mayor Declares Emergency, Asks Federal Help on Potomac Sewage Spill

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser on Feb. 18 declared a local public emergency following a sewage spill on the Potomac River and requested federal assistance from President Donald Trump.

More than 250 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River after a section of the 72-inch Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Maryland, on Jan. 19.

Bowser sent a letter to Trump on Feb. 18 requesting a presidential emergency declaration for the sewage spill and said the city intends to seek full reimbursement from the government for the response and repair costs.

“As the region continues responding to the Potomac Interceptor break, we have requested federal support,” the mayor said in a social media post.

In addition to the reimbursement, Bowser, in a statement, asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up regular interagency coordination calls among federal agencies, affected states, and the district “to maintain shared situational awareness and align federal assistance.”

The mayor also sought federal technical and testing assistance for expanded water quality monitoring, environmental modeling, and engineering support, and requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct “a comprehensive assessment” of the Little Falls intake and Dalecarlia Treatment Plant.

Bowser also suggested that the government provide a Small Business Administration declaration “should economic impacts meet applicable thresholds,” according to her statement.

In a Feb. 19 Truth Social post, Trump said he has received Bowser’s request for federal help and called on the governors of Maryland and Virginia to do the same.

“If they can’t do the job, all they have to do is call, be polite and respectful, and the Federal Government will handle it, and bill them for services rendered, at a later date,” the president said.

“Muriel Bowser, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., has politely asked that I get involved, so the Federal Government will do that from the D.C. standpoint.”

Trump previously announced federal intervention in the response, but later suggested that local leaders should make formal requests for help. He said the sewage spill happened because they “failed to maintain and monitor their own public systems.”

“The Federal Government is not at all involved with what has taken place, but we can fix it,” he said in a Truth Social post on Feb. 17. “ACT FAST. I am awaiting your call,” he said.

The Epoch Times reached out to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Moore told a press conference on Feb. 17 that Maryland Department of the Environment workers were among the first to respond to the sewage spill. He said that local officials invited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to a congressional briefing, but the agency declined.

“Now that it is essentially 99 percent contained, I love the fact that the president of the United States is finally realizing that this was his job, and he hasn’t been doing it for the past month,” Moore said.

“So I’d say, ‘listen, we’d welcome you to help to address the remaining 1 percent that hasn’t been complete while we’ve been doing your job.’”