Potomac sewage spill sends E coli 12,000 times above safety limits

The Potomac is facing more than rough waters after a sewage spill near Lock 10 sent E levels soaring. coli well beyond safety limits in Washington, D.C.with new tests revealing contamination thousands of times higher than what is considered safe for human contact.

Lock 10 is a historic lock and restored lockhouse along the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal, originally used to handle shipping traffic on the 19th-century canal and now preserved as a quiet historic site about five miles from the heart of Washington, DC.

The Potomac Riverkeeper Network (PRKN) released results from testing contaminated water along the Potomac River that PRKN President Betsy Nicholas said show much worse impacts than initially thought.

The results showed high levels of E. coli bacteriaa type of bacteria commonly found in the intestines of humans and animals that is generally harmless but can cause diarrhea and more serious gastrointestinal illness when certain toxin-producing strains contaminate food or water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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“These measurements of E. coli bacteria show contamination that is almost 12,000 times what authorities limit for human contact,” Nicholas said. “So far, nearly 300 million gallons have spilled into the Potomac River, and the long-term impact cannot be overstated. We measured the results against standards set by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Maryland Department of the Environment.

“We were able to obtain this information thanks to real-time testing conducted Friday by Dean Naujoks, Potomac Riverkeeper, and Evan Quinter, PRKN volunteer coordinator,” she added.

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Beyond the initial results, additional testing along the Potomac River shows how far the contamination spread and how bacteria levels varied widely by location.

Naujoks said the sampling locations were chosen to show contamination at the source of the spill, in popular public recreation areas and miles downstream in Washington, D.C.

“We sampled the wastewater escaping from the broken interceptor pipe at the Potomac River near Lock 10 and the result was 4,884,000 MPN – the most likely number for E. coli – which is 11,900 times higher than the 410 MPN limit for safe human contact,” he said. “Nearby, samples taken from the river at the public river access at Lock 10 where people recreate showed values ​​7,000 times the limit of 410.

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“We also sampled approximately four miles downstream in Washington DC waters at Fletchers Cove, where testing data revealed E. coli levels were 60 times the 410 standard,” he added.

Naujoks said the spill was the result of infrastructure failures that he said could have been avoided with better maintenance and planning.

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“Infrastructural failure is the cause of this disaster. The six-foot diameter sewage receiving pipe located so close to the river should have been better maintained to avoid this disaster,” Naujoks said. “CC water must come up with a better plan than using a 100 year old dry canal ditch to capture and contain future sewage discharges instead of discharging hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the river. One of the largest sewage leaks in U.S. history could have been avoided. »

Fox News Digital has reached out to DC Water for comment on the matter.