The Department of Justice filed a complaint against the water and sewer authority in Washington, D.C., on Monday after more than 240 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River this winter.
A pipe in the Potomac Interceptor sanitary sewer system collapsed in January, leading to the massive sewage spill. The DOJ maintains the ecological disaster could have been avoided.
The federal lawsuit alleges DC Water violated the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the unauthorized discharge of pollutants into navigable waters, by ignoring warning signs that the deteriorating pipe might collapse. The infrastructure was constructed in the early 1960s.
The utility company was also accused of failing to maintain the Potomac Interceptor properly since 2018, when corrosion in the concrete pipe was first detected.
“After decades of use and years of neglect, including at least eight years of DC Water knowing about severe corrosion requiring immediate repair, a section of the Potomac Interceptor known by DC Water to be severely corroded catastrophically failed,” the court filing read.
Additionally, the DOJ blamed DC Water for failing to mitigate contamination resulting from the sewage spill adequately. E. coli bacteria levels surged drastically at the time. In March, D.C. health officials determined the Potomac River became safe again for recreational use.
The Trump administration moved quickly to contain the situation in coordination with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was more willing to work with federal authorities than Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD). President Donald Trump previously clashed with Moore over the disaster response efforts.
The Environmental Protection Agency led the federal emergency response to the sewage spill, which ended in mid-March, and continues to check the Potomac River for water quality. The agency joined the DOJ in filing the complaint.
“When the Potomac Interceptor collapsed, President Trump called on EPA to lead the federal response and we delivered,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “We moved fast, led the cleanup, and protected the waters that flow past the landmarks defining our nation’s capital. Now we’re making sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
The federal government seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief from DC Water to prevent a similar sewer pipe collapse from happening in the future.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown filed a separate lawsuit on Monday, asking a Montgomery County court to award civil penalties and damages to make up for the costs the state bore. Maryland’s allegations were similar to those outlined in the federal complaint.
In response to both complaints on Monday, DC Water vowed to continue improving the pipeline after initial repairs had already been made.
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“DC Water is fully committed to the long-term rehabilitation of the Potomac Interceptor,” the company said in a statement. “Although the lawsuits are still under review, they underscore our commitment to advance the planned repairs for the entire 54-mile pipeline, including the impacted segment.”
DC Water is accelerating work on 2,700 feet of the pipeline and conducting water quality testing. Its recent test results showed that bacteria levels were low near the origin of the pipe leak.