The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that it is taking over all water quality testing for the Potomac River following the massive collapse of the Potomac Interceptor. Starting today, federal officials will replace the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) in monitoring the area near the site of the sewage leak.
This shift in responsibility comes two months after a 72-inch wide sewer pipe failed in Maryland on January 19, 2026. That break caused hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage to spill into the Potomac River.
The pipe, managed by DC Water, normally carries up to 60 million gallons of wastewater daily from Virginia and Maryland to the Blue Plains treatment plant.
EPA workers will continue to use the same testing locations previously established by the city. Samples will be collected every day and sent to the EPA’s Environmental Science Center at Fort Meade, Maryland. According to the agency, the public can expect to see data posted online about three days after each collection.
“EPA taking over the daily water sampling is the next step in that coordinated federal response,” said Jess Kramer, EPA Senior Response Officer and Assistant Administrator for Water. “We will provide accurate, timely results to the public and continue working to ensure that repairs and remediation occur as quickly as possible.”
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Despite the scale of the spill, officials from the Washington Aqueduct have confirmed that local drinking water remains safe. The sewage entered the river downstream from the main intake facilities where the city collects its water supply.
To manage the ongoing crisis, DC Water set up a bypass system on January 25. This system uses part of the C&O Canal to catch the leaking sewage and pump it back into a functional section of the pipe for treatment. Along with the new testing duties, the EPA is providing on-site help with stormwater diversion, technical repairs, and cleanup efforts.
The data from these daily tests will be hosted on the DOEE’s existing monitoring webpage once it has passed federal quality checks.
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