Washington, D.C
Potomac sewage spill: Repairs to take weeks longer after large rocks found in pipe
The blockage inside the collapsed sewer line that sent hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River is worse than previously thought, and it’s going to take weeks longer to repair, DC Water officials said.
It will likely take an additional four to six weeks to get a system in place to safely remove large rocks and boulders crews found inside the sewer line during an overnight inspection, DC Water said in an update early Friday morning.
“Standard cleaning methods using industrial vacuums and jets are not sufficient to remove these large boulders,” DC Water said. “Addressing this blockage will require both larger machinery and manual labor. Workers will need to safely enter the pipe, use slings to maneuver around the rocks, and then rely on heavy equipment to extract each boulder, making removal a complex and highly specialized operation.”
DC Water DC Water
The “large rock dam” stretches about 30 feet downstream of the original pipe collapse, the agency said.
According to DC Water, the rocks were likely excavated during the pipe’s construction in the 1960s and used as backfill. When the pipe failure happened last month, the rocks were drawn in by the force of the wastewater flow.
Then, as the surrounding material eroded into the sinkhole created by the collapse, extra rocks and soil accumulated and filled the pipe, helping create the rock dam.
DC Water said its bypass pump system near the spill has mostly contained the overflow of wastewater, but hasn’t stopped it. Reducing the flow of water through the pipe further means adding more of those pumps, DC Water said.
University of Maryland researchers say the spill spewed harmful bacteria as far as 10 miles downstream from the sewage overflow site.
The bacteria now in the Potomac River water, according to those UMD researchers, includes E. coli, the bacteria behind Staph infections and the antibiotic-resistant form of Staph known as MRSA.
To make matters worse, the cold water and outdoor temperatures are acting like a refrigerator, keeping the bacteria alive for longer as it travels downstream.
News4 Meteorologist Ryan Miller explained how the colder temperatures may be slowing the natural cleansing of the river from the spill.
“The water temperature right now is 39 degrees,” Miller told News4’s Mark Segraves. “That’s refrigerator temperature water. And that water will help to slow the growth of the bacteria, prevent the die-off, a massive die-off of the bacteria. So from that standpoint, the cold water can actually help transport further distances some of the pathogens.”
UMD officials urged anyone who comes in contact with the water to get tested.
DC Water is also conducting water quality sampling at multiple locations to check for E. coli bacteria, and also found elevated levels after the spill.
The spill took place below the point in the river where D.C.’s drinking water comes from, which means the D.C. water supply has not been impacted and is safe, according to DC Water.
It’s been more than two weeks since the sewer pipe collapsed on Jan. 19, causing 300 million gallons of sewage and wastewater to flow into the Potomac River.
To mark Gun Violence Awareness Month, residents in Southeast D.C. came together to search for a lasting solution.
The Trigger Project held a peace walk Saturday afternoon reflecting on lives impacted by gun violence
The Trigger Project decided to host the walk to give victims’ loved ones a chance to be among others who have experienced the pain of losing a loved one.
The agency said it prides itself on getting the word out about how to prevent gun violence through lived experiences, community leadership and partnerships. The group aims to uplift young people through healing, opportunity and connection while addressing the root causes of gun violence. Another critical part of the event was to ensure that young people have a safe space where they can hang out.
“We’re losing too many of our babies to the streets, you know what I’m saying?” said Darlene Williams, who said she has been a victim of gun violence and also lost her granddaughter to gun violence. “Like I say, the guns don’t kill, people kill. [..] Be around other people, you know what I’m saying, that’s going through the same thing that we’re going through.”
Our site’s security protections triggered a block. If you
think this was in error, email us at
[email protected]. Please include how you got to this webpage and the
Cloudflare Ray ID located at the bottom of the page.
Cloudflare Ray ID: a125c701ea927623
Back to The Atlantic
(NEWS FROM THE STATES) – Visitors from across the United States traveled to the National Mall Thursday for the opening day of the Great American State Fair, a days-long event that is part of President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration of the nation’s semiquincentennial.
States and territories showed off cultural and agricultural exports at exhibits stretching nearly a mile. Attendees snapped photos on the small Grand Ole Opry stage in the Tennessee booth, kids tried putt-putt at Indiana’s miniature golf course and cowboys rode horses at Montana’s rodeo.
A 110-foot Ferris wheel slowly turned at the center of the freshly manicured lawn, framing the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol in the distance on either side. Nearby stood a model of Trump’s controversial “triumphal arch.”
People collected swag from each state — drawstring bags from Ohio, stickers from South Dakota, snacks from Tennessee — and could receive a stamp on state fair passports.
The fair is part of the larger Freedom 250 programming and kicked off Wednesday night with a rally on the mall featuring a speech from the president that closely resembled his remarks along the 2024 presidential campaign trail. The festivities will continue over Independence Day, when Trump will deliver a second speech followed by what is promised to be an impressive fireworks display.
The president will visit North and South Dakota as part of his Freedom 250 tour for the opening of the Teddy Roosevelt presidential library and Independence Day eve fireworks above Mount Rushmore.
Freedom 250 then extends into August with a high school athletic competition in Washington, D.C., dubbed the “Patriot Games” and a Freedom 250 INDYCAR race around the National Mall.
The administration’s celebration is separate from the America250 commission, created by Congress a decade ago, and which has its own nationwide programming this year.
From Lake Erie to the Ohio River
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and first lady Fran DeWine greeted guests in Ohio’s pavilion. The couple posed for photos in front of a map of the Buckeye State.
“We wanted to see on the wall all the different things, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, all the different fun things you can do in Ohio,” the Republican governor said, adding the state has local celebrations and initiatives planned for the 250th anniversary, including “Movies in Ohio” for community showings of films that feature the state.
Ohio’s first lady showcased a children’s literacy exhibit on the opposite wall and touted the roughly 427,000 participants in the state’s partnership with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that mails free children’s books monthly to households with kids under age 5.
“We’ve mailed out 27 million books. We know that a child’s brain is 80% developed by age 3, so we want to get them those books early,” she said.
Reflecting on America’s milestone birthday, the governor said, “We’re always a work in progress, Ohio’s a work in progress, this country is a work in progress.”
“I think you know the thing we need to keep in mind, all of us, is there’s some essential core principles that we all believe in. … We may disagree about different policies, but the core principles are the same,” he said.
Cartwheels on the lawn
People from various states walked from exhibit to exhibit, while stopped in the nation’s capital during road trip vacations.
Tanya Geders, 43, of St. Louis, Missouri, did a cartwheel in the mall lawn, trying to persuade her son to join in. The family stopped at the state fair on their way to Virginia Beach.
“We’re like, well, if we go to the ocean, we can go to D.C. and what a better time to be here than the 250th anniversary,” Geders said.
Robyn Toman, 71, of Severn, Maryland, escorted her 12-year-old grandson Miles to meet DeWine and grab a photo with the governor.
Toman said she remembers the country’s bicentennial.
“I was a kid about his age, and I came in 1976. I said, ‘We’re gonna go, let’s go down to D.C. for a couple days and see this,’” she said.
“We’ve enjoyed it. We went over to the archives yesterday, and saw the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. And, oh, that was so nice, that was fantastic.”
Not all states are there. A spokesperson for Washington state’s lieutenant governor’s office told States Newsroom the administration declined to join because of “the costs to the state associated with participating.”According to news reports, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont did not contribute exhibits, though many are still represented by flags outside the individual booths.The state officials did not immediately respond to States Newsroom for confirmation.
All states that reportedly did not participate, with the exception of Vermont, are Democratic-led.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KOTA. All rights reserved.
-
Boston, MA3 minutes agoBeyond the frame: ‘Where’s Boston?’ revisited through new oral histories – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
-
Denver, CO6 minutes agoArizona Cardinals will face Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix for 1st time
-
Seattle, WA11 minutes ago3 Primary Reasons Seattle Seahawks Will Repeat as NFC West Champs in 2026
-
Milwaukee, WI21 minutes agoVenezuela earthquakes: Milwaukee donation drive to help families affected
-
Atlanta, GA25 minutes agoDR Congo advances to knockouts after defeating Uzbekistan 3-1
-
Minneapolis, MN33 minutes agoMinneapolis LGBTQ+ literature haven Quatrefoil Library celebrates 40 years
-
Indianapolis, IN36 minutes agoTurning hot and humid through midweek | June 27, 2026
-
Pittsburg, PA41 minutes agoLate homer by Eugenio Suarez gives the Reds a win in Pittsburgh – Redleg Nation
