Trump signs emergency declaration for Potomac sewage spill
Feb. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration that will mobilize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in the clean-up of millions of gallons of sewage in the Potomac River.
The declaration comes five weeks after nearly 250 million gallons of sewage spilled into the river after a sewage line collapsed.
The Potomac River runs between Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
“The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe,” FEMA said in a press release.
The spill started when the Potomac Interceptor, a 72-inch in diameter pipe that carries up to 60 million gallons of wastewater per day from Maryland and Virginia to a treatment plant in Washington, D.C., ruptured on Jan. 19, spilling 243 million gallons of untreated wastewater into the river.
DC Water, which operates the pipe, installed a temporary bypass on Jan. 24, stopping more wastewater from leaking into the river.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser on Feb. 18 formally declared a major disaster in the District and directly requested that Trump mobilize FEMA to help with cleaning up the waterway as work starts on a permanent fix, which could take as long as 10 months to complete.
On Feb. 16, Trump said that he would send FEMA to assist with the clean-up and, with his approval of Bowser’s declaration, the agency will now be mobilized to provide equipment and resources necessary.
