D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, second from right, provides an update Friday on the Potomac Interceptor sewer line break. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
As D.C. Water crews continue to investigate what caused a pipe to break, spewing hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, officials in the District said they soon may be able to lift an advisory limiting public access to the waterway.
Authorities have advised against boating, fishing and touching the Potomac River since the spill, but D.C. officials hope to lift the guidance March 2. The plan -- which officials cautioned is subject to change depending on water quality -- comes as testing has shown the levels of E. coli bacteria in the D.C. portion of the river consistently hovering under safe recreational limits.
"We're looking at every site downriver and seeing pretty stable data," D.C. Health Director Ayanna Bennett said at a news conference Friday afternoon. Swimming, she noted, is still prohibited by D.C. law without special permission.
Friday's briefing with D.C. and D.C. Water officials was their first major joint news conference about the Jan. 19 collapse of the Potomac Interceptor. The pipe carries about 60 million gallons of wastewater daily from Virginia and Maryland into D.C. for treatment.
D.C. Water crews were finally able to reach the collapsed section of the sewer pipe on Thursday and continue to investigate the cause of the break. "As soon as we find out, we will be transparent about communicating that," D.C. Water CEO David L. Gadis said.
Local officials face several major challenges in the coming weeks and months. First, D.C. Water must also complete sensitive repairs on the collapsed Potomac Interceptor and remediate the areas affected by the spill. Authorities across the region must also work to rehabilitate the tarnished public perception of the river, which -- despite the improvement of water quality in many places -- is still being described by many as full of sewage.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans also announced Friday that they would investigate the cause of the pipe collapse -- including by requesting information from D.C. Water about what the utility knew about the risk of a potential spill.
D.C. Water has said the vast majority of the sewage -- an estimated 194 million gallons -- flowed into the river in the first five days after the pipe collapse. Another 48 million gallons flowed into the river between Jan. 24 and Jan. 29, as D.C. Water worked to increase pumping capacity in the bypass system. There have been no overflows into the river since Feb. 8, Super Bowl Sunday, when a glut of non-disposable wipes overwhelmed the pumps at a time of high demand for the sewer system.
Officials emphasized Friday that the region's drinking water is unaffected. The system that treats wastewater is different from the drinking water system, and the intake in operation for drinking water lies upstream of the spill site.
The interceptor had been scheduled for repairs next summer even before January's pipe collapse. "We inspect our sewers regularly," said Matthew Brown, D.C. Water's chief operating officer. "This was a section of pipe that was targeted for rehabilitation ... we were not able to get to it before the break occurred."
It remains unclear how vulnerable other sections of the pipeline might be.
Responding to questions, Gadis acknowledged that other sections of the pipe had been inspected and marked as in need of even more urgent repair than the section that collapsed last month. But he provided no detail on which sections needed the most attention and when they would be scheduled for repair.
In the meantime, D.C. Water is working to repair the section of the pipe that collapsed and restore it to use, a process officials hope will be complete by mid-March. Gadis also issued a new estimate for the repair of the pipe and remediation of the surrounding environment: $20 million.
Gadis said that as of now, he does not anticipate that D.C. Water will pay for the work related to the January collapse and spill by raising water bills. "I don't see us having a rate increase because of this incident," he said.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has sought financial assistance from the federal government, asking Wednesday for reimbursement for the repairs as well as broader help with D.C. Water's multibillion-dollar Clean Rivers Project, which aims to make local waterways swimmable by reducing the sewage overflow that frequently occurs due to runoff after rainstorms.
President Donald Trump said in a social media post Thursday that Bowser "has politely asked that I get involved, so the Federal Government will do that from the D.C. standpoint." He encouraged Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) -- whose response to the spill he has denigrated as "incompetent" -- to do the same.
Bowser said Friday that the city still had not received a formal answer from the Trump administration. "We have not received our approval at this press time, but when we do, we will soon let you know," she said.
As work continues on the spill site, other parts of the government have ramped up testing of water quality downstream. D.C.'s Department of Energy and Environment will take over testing from D.C. Water and begin measuring bacteria levels in the water daily, officials said Friday. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has allowed the city department access to its laboratories, allowing the ramp-up in testing.
Officials in Maryland and Virginia said the states also are conducting regularly water testing. Spanberger said on social media that the state "will continue to coordinate with regional and federal partners to prioritize safety and protect the health of Virginia's waterways."
Moore said in a social media post Friday that Maryland would also continue to work with regional and federal partners. But he emphasized -- as he has repeatedly in response to Trump's criticism -- that the break occurred on federal land, saying that D.C. and the federal government "maintain primary responsibility for the repair and cleanup operations."