Washington’s mayor declared a public emergency Wednesday over a major sewage leak, seeking aid from the White House after the Trump administration criticized local leaders for their response.
One month ago, a pipe carrying sewage from the US capital and parts of the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia burst, sending hundreds of millions of liters of waste into the Potomac River.
The ecological disaster has become a danger to the river’s health and residents who use it for drinking water, while stoking a political fight between President Donald Trump and a rising Democratic star, Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser requested a presidential disaster declaration and “declared a local public emergency” in order to get federal funds for the relief effort, her office said in a statement Wednesday.
She was also seeking 100 percent “reimbursement for costs incurred by the District and the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority” related to the disaster, it added.
Scientists have detected dangerously high concentrations of bacteria from fecal matter, including E.coli, in waters affected by the spill.
With the leak’s Maryland location upriver from Washington, much of it found its way to the waters skirting the US capital.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Moore of having “abandoned and neglected” the 60-year-old pipe, saying the federal government was ready to step in and help -- if asked.
Without such intervention, the Potomac leak would grow into “an ecological and environmental disaster,” she said.
On Tuesday, Trump had sent a blunt message on his Truth Social platform to authorities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington: “if they can’t do the job, they have to call me and ask, politely, to get it fixed.”
The previous day he had slammed what he called blatant mismanagement of the issue by Democrats, particularly Moore, considered a potential future presidential candidate.
“The president is lying to the public,” Moore posted on X, saying that “the sewage pipe is on federal land.”
Moore has also said the US Environmental Protection Agency was invited to attend a meeting on the infrastructure repairs, but refused.
The urgent work is expected to take four to six weeks, followed by a complete overhaul.
While Washington authorities are warning residents to avoid contact with the Potomac River, they say the safety and quality of the region’s drinking water has not been affected.
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