OPINION:
At least 240 million gallons of raw sewage, the largest spill of wastewater in U.S. history, have drained into the Potomac River. By way of comparison, the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska and is considered one of the largest environmental disasters.
The spill is because of a failure in a section of a 72-inch sewer pipe near the Maryland border with the District of Columbia after a large winter storm froze the region.
DC Water says the damage will take at least nine months to fix. Millions of gallons of raw sewage have been diverted and are “safely contained” in the nearly 200-year-old C&O Canal, creating a literal river of poop. Since the pipe collapsed, the land around the water has been littered with toilet paper, sanitary napkins and other waste.
As soon as the weather warms and the Potomac River begins to thaw, parts of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will smell noxious. The impacts on the Chesapeake Bay, wildlife, fisheries, recreation and local tap water remain to be seen.
Sewage spill hazard warnings have been issued in the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia and are growing as the waste travels down the Potomac toward the Chesapeake Bay.
“I think it’s going to be somewhat devastating,” Dean Naujoks of Potomac Riverkeeper Network told a group of local reporters after the Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee held a virtual meeting Friday afternoon to address the break.
The legacy news media — save The Washington Times, News Nation, Newsmax and Fox News — have yet to cover this massive environmental hazard. Elected officials within the DMV have not issued statements of concern, perhaps hoping the story will go away, so as not to highlight their malfeasance. It took the District 25 days after the spill to post a public health advisory.
All the local and state leaders within the DMV are Democrats. This is their mess to clean up.
The Democratic Party harps on the dangers of global warming and pushes for new environmental regulations and conservation efforts, all the while ignoring the massive wastewater spill in their backyard. After Abigail Spanberger was elected in November, the Bay Journal wrote a piece titled “Environmentalists find hope in Virginia’s next governor.”
In her first state address, Ms. Spanberger announced that Virginia would rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate endeavor that caps carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and requires utilities to purchase allowances for emissions. Some may see it as a government shakedown of utility companies that accomplishes little environmentally and increases electricity costs, but it sounds good to the climate change folks.
Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly are moving to restrict or ban gas-powered leaf blowers, strengthen climate education in public schools, and increase local solar approvals, all while not commenting on the poop river or its effects on the local community.
“Healthy waterways are the lifeblood of a healthy economy. Investing in the environment is key to lowering energy bills, cooling cities, and protecting our communities from flooding and extreme weather,” Chris Moore, Virginia’s executive director at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a conservation organization, said after Ms. Spanberger’s victory.
“Governor-elect Spanberger supported Chesapeake Bay issues during her time in Congress, promoted farm conservation practices that benefit clean water and address climate change, and has picked up litter alongside our volunteers at Clean the Bay Day.
“We are hopeful that Governor-elect Spanberger and her Administration will take Virginia in the right direction when it comes to climate adaptation and Bay restoration.”
The group has been silent on the wastewater spill. So, too, has Ms. Spanberger.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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