Senator warns of major Potomac sewage spill, urges state testing and response

RICHMOND — During the Virginia Senate's morning hour on Feb. 18, the senator from King George delivered a public-privilege statement urging immediate state action after what he described as a large sewage pipe failure in Maryland that released raw sewage into the Potomac.

"At this point in time, we've got about 250,000,000 gallons of raw sewage," the senator said on the Senate floor, adding that E. coli levels reported from the spill were "1,000 times higher than what's safe for human contact." He said constituents who contacted the Virginia Department of Health were told the incident was the responsibility of Maryland and DC Water, and he said he would send a formal letter to the Department of Environmental Quality urging water testing and sampling along Virginia tributaries.

The senator framed the spill as an urgent public-health and environmental issue that could affect shoreline residents and local seafood markets and called on Virginia agencies to act to protect citizens. The transcript does not include any immediate response from Virginia Department of Health or DEQ representatives.

What happens next: The senator said he would send a letter to DEQ and urged the General Assembly to consider how the Commonwealth should respond; agencies named were not on the record during the session and their response will require follow-up reporting.