E Coli levels test ‘dangerously high’ in Potomac River after sewage spill: report

Millions of gallons of toxic waste entered the river following a leak from a major underground sewer

‘Oh my god, the smell is horrific’, workers say after enormous sewage spill (AP)

A toxic plume of contamination is sweeping down the Potomac River after a massive sewage‑pipe failure sent hundreds of millions of gallons of waste into the waterway, a report says.

E. coli levels at some sites are now thousands of times above what’s considered safe, according to NBC News.

The spill began on 19 January, when a major underground sewer line ruptured in Montgomery County, sending a torrent of sewage bubbling up through the ground and erupting like a geyser, several feet into the air.

Over the following week, an estimated 300 million gallons of sewage poured into the Potomac, pushing bacteria levels from the Maryland suburbs into Washington, D.C.

”Oh my god, the smell is horrific," said Dean Naujoks of the Potomac Riverkeepers. “It’s such high concentrations of sewage that just grabbing a sample is a public health risk.”

DC Water crews have since diverted much of the remaining flow into the empty C&O Canal, where it can be routed back into the sewage system.

Human waste is pouring through Washington DC, after a sewage pipe burst, flooding the Potomac River (Getty Images)

The 184.5-mile C&O Canal ceased operations in 1924 following floods and financial failure, and large stretches of the former waterway usually remain dry.

Officials say the stream that was delivering millions of gallons of sewage-filled water into the river each day has now been sharply reduced, though repairs are not yet complete.

Testing by the Potomac Riverkeepers shows the scale of the contamination. At the spill site, E. coli levels were measured at 12,000 times above what is considered to be the safe limit for human contact.

Four miles downstream, at Fletcher’s Boathouse in D.C., levels were still 60 times higher than what is considered safe.

Water samples are taken by workers on the sewage-blighted Potomac River (AP)

“We found alarmingly high numbers of sewage E. coli in the river,” said Naujoks. “Everywhere we tested downstream, we found very, very high levels.”

Naujoks said he welcomed DC Water’s diversion efforts but warned that the situation remains far from resolved. “I’m glad they’ve come up with a plan to minimize the impacts,” he told NBC. “But will it continue to work? And how long until no sewage is entering the Potomac at all? And then they still have to clean this mess up,” he added.

The Potomac Riverkeepers said all the contaminants usually present in sewage, including bacteria, pathogens and parasites, are all in this discharge, and therefore now impacting the river.

A spokesperson for DC Water told NBC they anticipate water quality will improve once the overflow is fully contained, and did not dispute the damning results of the samples taken by The Potomac Riverkeepers. DC Water advised anyone exposed to the water to thoroughly wash their skin.