They say Washington is a swamp—but nobody expected it to become one quite so literally. Since January 19th, a ruptured sewer line has been dumping raw sewage into the Potomac River, turning the waterway bordering our nation’s capital into a genuine environmental catastrophe. The numbers are staggering, the response has been sluggish, and the finger-pointing has been predictably political.
The Potomac Interceptor—a 72-inch pipeline installed back in the 1960s—finally gave way after decades of neglect. In the first five days alone, some 240 million gallons of raw sewage poured in. E. coli levels have spiked to dangerous concentrations, and first responders now follow hazmat protocols for river rescues.
And where were all those environmental crusaders while sixty-year-old pipes crumbled beneath the capital?
So who’s responsible for letting this infrastructure rot? Well, that depends entirely on which Democrat you’re asking. DC Water, the utility that owns the pipeline, faced sharp criticism for its “slow response and lack of transparent communication.” Maryland Governor Wes Moore insists the pipe sits on federal land—not his problem. Meanwhile, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser waited thirty days—thirty days!—before declaring a local emergency. Your tax dollars at work.
Thirty days of raw sewage. Let that sink in.
When Talk Becomes Action
While local leaders were busy drafting press releases, President Trump decided enough was enough. On Saturday, he approved a disaster declaration for the District of Columbia, mobilizing FEMA to coordinate the cleanup.
From FEMA’s official statement:
The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.
The declaration covers D.C. and affected areas in Maryland and Virginia. The EPA’s now involved, and crews have finally reached the collapsed pipe section.
Trump didn’t mince words about the irony, noting that “Democrats constantly talk about Environmental Pollution and Protection, and yet, they think it’s OK to have hundreds of thousands of gallons a day of sewage pouring into our Beautiful Potomac River.” He offered assistance to both governors, adding that if they couldn’t handle it, “all they have to do is call, be polite and respectful, and the Federal Government will handle it.”
Mayor Bowser asked politely. Trump delivered.
Draining the Swamp—Literally
There’s something almost poetic about this whole disaster. We’ve heard about draining the Washington swamp for years—the bureaucratic rot, the entrenched incompetence. Now here’s Trump, quite literally cleaning up a swamp that Democratic leaders allowed to fester.
The progress since federal involvement speaks for itself. No sewage overflows in eleven days. Crews manually excavating the damage. Full repairs expected by mid-March.
Call me old-fashioned, but I think there’s a lesson here. While some politicians built careers on environmental rhetoric, they let critical infrastructure decay. When crisis hit, they spent a month assigning blame. It took a president willing to act—not just talk—to get things moving.
Sometimes draining the swamp means rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty. Fortunately, we have a president who’s never been afraid to do exactly that.
Key Takeaways
- A ruptured 1960s sewer line dumped 240 million gallons of sewage into the Potomac while local Democratic leaders delayed action for thirty days.
- President Trump approved a disaster declaration mobilizing FEMA after Mayor Bowser finally requested federal assistance.
- Maryland Governor Wes Moore deflected responsibility despite DC Water’s acknowledged failures in communication and response.
- Sometimes “draining the swamp” means literally cleaning up the messes that career politicians left behind.
Sources: Fox News, NBC4 Washington, PBS News
