United States Files Complaint Against DC Water in Response to Potomac Interceptor Collapse

United States Files Complaint Against DC Water in Response to Potomac Interceptor Collapse

April 21, 2026

WASHINGTON - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) today filed a complaint against the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) for Clean Water Act (CWA) violations that led to, and resulted from, the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor.

The complaint alleges that DC Water discharged raw sewage into the Potomac River without authorization, ignored clear warning signs of imminent failure, and violated its CWA permit by failing to properly maintain the Potomac Interceptor and its broader sanitary sewer system. When the collapse occurred, DC Water failed to adequately mitigate the damage, and the State of Maryland declined to act. On February 20, 2026, President Trump approved a federal emergency declaration and surged federal resources to the site with EPA as lead agency. The federal response remediated the contamination and ended the crisis by mid-March. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief to force DC Water to fully mitigate the harm it has caused and ensure that no collapse occurs in the future.

"When the Potomac Interceptor collapsed, President Trump called on EPA to lead the federal response and we delivered. We moved fast, led the cleanup, and protected the waters that flow past the landmarks defining our nation's capital. Now we're making sure nothing like this ever happens again. Today's action, partnering with Acting AG Blanche and DOJ, holds the responsible parties accountable, and under President Trump's leadership, EPA will keep championing clean water and real results for the American people," said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

"The neglect and collapse of the Potomac Interceptor threatened the national waterway flowing by and serving our nation's capital. Pollution that jeopardizes core federal interests warrants federal enforcement. This judicial action serves as the necessary next step in the federal response to the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor and will help prevent future collapses. It is another step toward fulfilling this Administration's promise to secure clean water for all Americans, no less those in our seat of government," said EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Jeffrey Hall.

DC Water owns and operates the Potomac Interceptor, a 54-mile regional sewage pipeline that carries approximately 60 million gallons of wastewater daily from hundreds of thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses across portions of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C. Maintaining the Interceptor and related infrastructure in good working order is a condition of DC Water's CWA permit.

DC Water did not meet that obligation. Although the utility diverted sewage around the break using the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, that stopgap polluted a national park and fell far short of adequate mitigation. Long after the diversion was in place, raw sewage from the original overflow and from the Canal itself continued to wash into the Potomac River.

The collapse occurred within the boundaries of the State of Maryland, yet Maryland disclaimed any responsibility and refused to hold DC Water accountable. On February 18, 2026, Maryland's Governor, Wes Moore, stated that because "[t]his is a Washington, D.C., pipe on federal land . . . Maryland has nothing to do with this." This position is incorrect because Maryland has taken federal primacy for implementation of the CWA. As a condition of taking the federal authority to issue CWA permits, it has agreed to enforce the CWA within its boundaries by taking action against violators, and it has full authority to do so.

More information on the Potomac Interceptor repair.