In late January, I reported that a major rupture of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line in Maryland had been releasing an estimated tens of millions of gallons per day of untreated sewage into the Potomac River just upstream of Washington, D.C., following severe winter weather and an infrastructure failure in a 1960s-era pipeline.
The spill has raised serious public health concerns due to elevated E. coli and other pathogen levels. The event highlights broader national issues with aging water and wastewater infrastructure, with an EPA estimate that D.C. alone needs about $1.33 billion over 20 years to repair deteriorating sewers and that hundreds of billions are needed nationwide.
There is a troubling update to this story. Washington, D.C.‘s Water and Sewer Authority appears to have significantly miscalculated the level of E. coli emanating from this incident. Note that MPN in this context means “Most Probable Number” (a value calculated by recording the tested concentration of bacteria at various stages of dilution, then using standard MPN tables and the dilution factor to convert that pattern into an estimated number of organisms per unit volume of the original sample).
The agency just announced a correction to the initial E. coli levels reported, indicating they are actually 9,900% higher.
On Friday, Feb. 6, DC Water initially reported levels of E. coli at 2,420 MPN/100mL, then changed it to the actual level of E. coli present, 242,000 MPN/100mL, which is 9,900% higher than the initial report. The numbers came from a drainage channel at Swainson Island, adjacent to Cabin John, Maryland, in the Potomac River.“We identified a human error through internal review, corrected it immediately, and updated the information as soon as it was confirmed. Sampling and monitoring have continued,” DC Water wrote on X in response to the discrepancy.The numbers are related to a Jan. 19 collapse of a section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line at a specific overflow point by Swainson Island. The collapse of part of the 54-mile sewer line led to a spike in E. coli in the surrounding area. DC Water said its “crews and contractors began work immediately to construct a bypass to contain the overflow,” which was completed on Jan.
This is substantially more than a little rounding error.
Such critical numbers for public health and safety should be checked. Competent scientists would definitely take that extra step.
This observation led me to wonder whether D.C.‘s Water and Sewer Authority had a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program. Legal Insurrection readers will not be surprised to learn the answer is….so much yes.
DC Water’s leadership understands that the success and wellbeing of a workforce and the overall health and prosperity of the community are connected. That is why they have embraced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as key principles to uplift both our employees and the communities we serve.Over the course of the year, the Office of Inclusion, led by our Chief People and Inclusion Officer Lisa Stone, has led the charge for diversity and thought leadership within the water sector, recognizing these essential ingredients for creating innovative solutions to the complex challenges we face.
As an added bonus, the agency also has a supplier diversity program.
Well, thanks to the focus on DEI, there are certainly many new complex challenges to face.
The spill has already released over 200 million gallons of water, and repairs will take months.
Repairs to the massive sewage spill contaminating the Potomac River could take weeks — possibly months — longer than originally expected, according to DC Water.The spill stems from the collapse of a 72-inch sewer pipeline, known as the Potomac Interceptor, which failed on Jan. 19 near Glen Echo, Maryland. The collapse caused raw sewage to erupt from the ground and flow directly into the Potomac River.DC Water estimates that approximately 243 million gallons of wastewater have spilled into the river so far — the equivalent of 368 Olympic-sized swimming pools.Officials said the majority of that discharge occurred during the first several days after the collapse, before emergency bypass pumping systems were activated to reroute sewage around the damaged section.
As a reminder, the DC Water and Sewer Authority also spent $55 million showpiece headquarters rather than on infrastructure repairs that were known to be needed.
In conclusion, posh offices and a glossy DEI portfolio may impress consultants and politicians, but they do nothing for the family downstream if the people running the system can’t count bacteria correctly.
In public health, equity slogans don’t compensate for basic competence, when 242,000 MPN/100 mL is misreported as 2,420. Clearly, the problem isn’t a lack of diversity statements; it’s a lack of professionals who know what they’re doing and double-check life‑and‑death numbers.
I fear we are just beginning to deal with the DEI damage to critical institutions in this country.
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