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WASHINGTON (AP) — In January, a catastrophic event unfolded when a colossal pipe, as large as a car, ruptured, releasing an astounding amount of sewage into the Potomac River. The spill, amounting to 244 million gallons (924 million liters), was so massive that officials observed an alarming increase in harmful bacteria drifting down the river past Washington for weeks. The situation escalated to such a level that it necessitated an emergency declaration and the intervention of federal resources.
This incident, monumental in scope, underscored the dire repercussions of aging and deteriorating infrastructure. However, while this particular event captured wide attention, smaller sewer overflows occur frequently across the United States, often going unnoticed. These overflows, numbering in the tens of thousands annually, result in the contamination of rivers, the flooding of streets, and in some cases, the flooding of homes, posing significant threats to public health.
“It’s really one of those problems that remains hidden from public view until it erupts into a crisis,” explained Alice Volpitta, a waterkeeper with Blue Water Baltimore, a nonprofit organization focused on environmental issues.
In Maryland, the city of Baltimore has been particularly afflicted, experiencing hundreds of sewer overflows in recent years. These overflows are often triggered by broken pipes, encroaching tree roots, or severe weather events. Cities across the nation, including Houston, Memphis, and Cahokia Heights, Illinois, have entered into legal agreements aimed at addressing their similar issues. In regions where sewage and stormwater share the same pipelines, heavy rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, increases both the frequency and severity of these overflows.
In the wake of the Potomac spill, then-President Donald Trump criticized state and local officials as “incompetent.” However, experts have pointed out that funding cuts during his administration have compounded the national infrastructure challenges. Many utility companies find themselves financially unable to undertake necessary upgrades, with the Environmental Protection Agency estimating that hundreds of billions of dollars will be required over the next two decades to address these pressing needs.
“We’re going to see probably more incidents like we saw with the Potomac sewage spill,” said Becky Hammer, a senior attorney with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.
Baltimore’s tattered network of pipes
A neighbor’s message alerted Teddy Bloomquist to a potential flooding problem. Downstairs in his Baltimore row house, cloudy brown water with chunks of human waste was coming up from the shower drain. It was the third sewage backup that winter, each potentially leaving behind harmful bacteria.
“We’re taking buckets and it turns out every time someone’s flushing their toilet, it’s coming up,” Bloomquist said. “It’s just coming so fast.”
Baltimore’s sewer system is more than a century old, with some parts of its tangled web of pipes mapped only in recent decades. Many cracked and leaked from decades of decay, letting rain in and worsening backups that surge through maintenance hole covers, drain into city rivers and flow into basements.
“A spill that happens in a community, in somebody’s house, or right next to their house — that will be a memory for them forever,” said Sri Vedachalam, a water and climate expert at the consulting firm Corvias Infrastructure Solutions.
Since the start of last year, roughly 15 million gallons (57 million liters) of sewage spilled in Baltimore. A map shows the spill sites scattered like measles across the city.
One neighbor was left with bits of toilet paper frozen into the snow in his backyard and spent the day heaving sewage out of his tub and toilet. Repairs cost thousands, including replacing his bathroom floor. Another neighbor said she used her wet vac to suck up roughly 120 gallons (454 liters) of sewage.
The city has spent nearly $2 billion over more than two decades under a consent decree with federal and state regulators. They’ve installed new water mains, closed off outlets where sewage easily overflowed and stopped sewage bottlenecks from occasionally forming in pipes that feed a treatment plant.
Baltimore’s efforts are reducing sewer overflows but take time and must be balanced with cost, according to city’s Department of Public Works. They’ve made considerable progress — sewer overflows are sharply below a rainy 2018 when their volume equaled about as much as the Potomac spill — but the city has proposed extending a deadline to complete necessary work to 2046.
Officials offer up to $5,000 to residents cleaning up sewage backups after certain storms, though activists say more is needed. The city said the program is governed by specific eligibility criteria.
Fighting for resources
Flooding and water quality needs over the next two decades have ballooned to at least $630 billion, the EPA estimated in 2024. Local residents will pay most of that. The federal government has a smaller role that’s expanded in recent years, but may soon decline.
The 2021 infrastructure law added billions for water needs, but this is the last year money will go out to states for loans to local projects. The Trump administration last year proposed deep cuts to that program and to grants that help states fund environmental oversight including monitoring and protecting water. Congress rejected those cuts, preserving access to funds for Baltimore and other communities, said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat.
But environmental justice efforts to help poor, often largely minority areas were cut as part of the Trump administration’s attack on what it scorned as radical ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ programs.
Some small grants were canceled, like $14 million to install septic systems in majority-Black Alabama counties where residents live with sewage piped from their homes onto their property. So were regional assistance centers intended to help small communities plan complex projects and compete for a big pool of new money.
One such center that served six Midwest states was setting up to test drinking water and clean up mold in the East St. Louis, Illinois, region, said Bonnie Keeler, who led the center. That project was just one of dozens planned before the program was spiked.
There still are major sources of financing. In November, the EPA announced $6.5 billion for wastewater and drinking water projects through a loan program, plus another $550 million that would be handed to states. The loan program for states has run for nearly 40 years and provided more than $180 billion for over 50,000 low-cost loans, the agency said. The agency offers some technical assistance as well.
“EPA helps invest in our nation’s water infrastructure by identifying needs, funding infrastructure projects through multiple programs, and providing technical assistance to connect communities and tribes to federal funding,” the agency said.
Bloomquist wants Baltimore to pay for damages and prevent it from happening again. He had to miss several days of work after the January backup and has to replace his basement floor.
“It’s been a saga and now everyone’s on edge. You know, we’re on our group texts, people are like, ‘Oh no, it is raining,’” Bloomquist said.
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