Congress Grills Officials About the Potomac River Sewage Spill

Inside Climate News · By Gabriel Matias Castilho · last updated May 21, 2026 – 3:44 PM

Months after a collapsed pipe pushed nearly 250 million gallons of raw sewage into the river, residents say the area still smells.

By Gabriel Matias Castilho

Members of a congressional subcommittee this week questioned utility leaders and state officials about their knowledge of preexisting problems with the sewage line that collapsed on Jan. 19 near the Potomac River.

here today, more tomorrow

We’ve launched briefing.center with a focus on the press and media.

And we’ve added Citizen Cartwright, a daily quick-read news summary by veteran Washington journalist Linda Cartwright. We’ve also created a new voting rights knowledge center for Citizen Cartwright subscribers. (You can sign up for a dedicated morning email at citizencartwright.com.)

You can sign up here for full access to press and media and Citizen Cartwright on briefing.center.

You can use briefing.center as the center of your information management, or just one of your tools. We’re happy to discuss your information needs.