Lawmakers Probe Potomac River Sewage Spill

The line collapsed on Jan. 19 along the Clara Barton Parkway and dumped untreated sewage into the Potomac River from the C and O Canal National Historic Park in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

The collapse dumped about 243 million gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, according to the D.C. water authority.

 02 20 2026 Letter to DC Water  by  scott.mcclallen 

U.S. Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie, (KY-2), the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republican Rep. John Joyce (PA-13), the chairman of the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Republican Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-6), the chairman of the subcommittee on Environment, signed the letter.

The letter said that D.C Water and Sewer Authority knew that the sewage line was at risk of failure in May 2025, when it approved an emergency contract worth $44 million. The letter asked Gadis for answers. 

D.C. Water hired Gadis in 2018. Gadis previously worked at Veolia North America, an engineering firm that paid a $53 million settlement related to the Flint Water Crisis.

On Feb. 18, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a local public emergency and asked for federal help and funding. 

The massive sewage spill shows the hypocrisy of the Left. 

Democrats push paper straws that don’t work to reduce landfill waste and want to ban plastic bags. While Democrats complain that cow farts will eventually kill us through climate change, they mostly ignored and downplayed this massive sewer spill. 

If this were an oil spill, Democrats would be live-streaming by the river since Jan. 19. But this environmental disaster doesn’t fit their playbook, so it’s (D)ifferent. 

The sewage spill precedes America’s 250th birthday, which is expected to bring millions of visitors to the nation’s Capitol. 

The line collapsed on Jan. 19 along the Clara Barton Parkway and dumped untreated sewage into the Potomac River from the C and O Canal National Historic Park in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

The collapse dumped about 243 million gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, according to the D.C. water authority.

 02 20 2026 Letter to DC Water  by  scott.mcclallen 

U.S. Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie, (KY-2), the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Republican Rep. John Joyce (PA-13), the chairman of the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Republican Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-6), the chairman of the subcommittee on Environment, signed the letter.

The letter said that D.C Water and Sewer Authority knew that the sewage line was at risk of failure in May 2025, when it approved an emergency contract worth $44 million. The letter asked Gadis for answers. 

D.C. Water hired Gadis in 2018. Gadis previously worked at Veolia North America, an engineering firm that paid a $53 million settlement related to the Flint Water Crisis.

On Feb. 18, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a local public emergency and asked for federal help and funding. 

The massive sewage spill shows the hypocrisy of the Left. 

Democrats push paper straws that don’t work to reduce landfill waste and want to ban plastic bags. While Democrats complain that cow farts will eventually kill us through climate change, they mostly ignored and downplayed this massive sewer spill. 

If this were an oil spill, Democrats would be live-streaming by the river since Jan. 19. But this environmental disaster doesn’t fit their playbook, so it’s (D)ifferent. 

The sewage spill precedes America’s 250th birthday, which is expected to bring millions of visitors to the nation’s Capitol.