An ecological crisis of “historic proportion” is underway in the Potomac River after a massive sewer pipe collapse north of Washington, D.C., the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.
The millions of gallons of diseased waste polluting the Potomac, a waterway that winds through the nation’s capital, is one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history, according to the University of Maryland.
E. coli bacteria levels in the Potomac were hundreds of times higher than the level the EPA considers safe when the water was tested this week at the site of the spill, officials from utility company DC Water said Tuesday.
About 243.5 million gallons of raw sewage have poured into the Potomac since the Jan. 19 mishap, DC Water said.
But the waters near the capital city’s Georgetown neighborhood fell within the EPA’s safety limits when they were tested Monday and weren’t a risk for gastrointestinal illness and skin infections — largely because the river has been frozen over for weeks.
DC Water has told area residents to avoid the untreated sewage. It urges anyone who comes into contact with the wastewater to leave the area immediately, wash exposed skin thoroughly with soap and clean water and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.