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Members of Congress learned a great deal this week about issues that contributed to the massive pipe that burst earlier this year, causing hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage to flow into the Potomac River.
But lawmakers and D.C.-area residents want assurances that an environmental disaster like the one that took place in January won’t happen again.
“In your opinion, does this pipe need to be replaced?” Georgia Rep. Rick Allen asked David Gadis, CEO and general manager of D.C. Water, during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.
“Not the whole 54 miles needs to be replaced,” Gadis said of the Potomac Interceptor, which stretches along the river from Virginia, through Maryland and into D.C. “There are segments that we feel need to be repaired and we’ve identified three of those segments.”
He said replacing the entire pipe would be a “herculean” task and indicated it would be “very, very expensive” — something ratepayers would have to help fund.
During the hearing, Gadis was asked how much the new repairs will cost, to which Gadis said they do not have an estimate “at this point in time.”
“We are mobilizing … on those three areas, but I’m not sure we have a cost estimate as of yet,” he said.
A spokesperson for D.C. Water later told Axios the current estimated cost for the repairs is $425 million.
Gadis said he hopes the National Park Service can move more quickly than it has in the past, to allow for permitting so the repairs can get underway.
“We’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot here,” Allen said, and Gadis agreed.
Could a pipe rupture happen again?
When asked if another pipe burst could take place, Gadis said given the pipe was first installed in the 1960s, he couldn’t make a flat guarantee that won’t ever happen.
“Another break could cause an issue for the Washington Aqueduct because of their intakes that they have along the river,” he said.
But he also stressed D.C. Water and federal agencies have access to technology that greatly improves the ability to isolate possible problems — much more than those available decades ago.
They can use cameras inside the pipeline as well as ground sonar to look for structural risks.
After the January break, workers encountered massive boulders which complicated efforts to repair the pipe and reroute the sewage so that more wouldn’t flow into the river. The boulders may have also contributed to the pipe’s rupture.
Despite a rapid response, a total of at least 240 million gallons of raw sewage entered the Potomac near Cabin John, Maryland, making it one of the worst spills of its kind nationwide.
Gadis testified during the hearing that D.C. Water first identified issues with the 72-inch in diameter pipe in 2018, but obtaining permits from the National Park Service took years.
The park service has said that was due, in part, to changes in the proposals over time.
On a positive note, federal officials and Gadis said there was very good cooperation among the agencies and local leaders as they reacted to the spill. And all of them pledged to do everything they can to ensure a spill of this magnitude doesn’t happen again.
While Maryland residents say they can still smell the stench from the spill, steps are being taken to mitigate it.
Also, the overall water quality of the river in the area is said to have returned to normal.
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