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A Great Falls boater has filed a proposed class action against DC Water over the massive January sewage spill into the Potomac River, while new water testing has raised concerns that contamination may be continuing near the ruptured pipeline.
Dr. Nicholas Lailas filed the lawsuit March 6 in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland. He is seeking compensation for himself and others whose property interests or ability to use and enjoy the river were harmed by the spill.
Lailas, a urologist with Loudoun Medical Group in Reston, owns a 45-foot recreational boat moored at the National Park Service’s Columbia Island Marina on the Pentagon Lagoon in Arlington. His complaint says sewage directly contaminated the surrounding water after the Potomac Interceptor collapsed in Maryland on Jan. 19.
According to the lawsuit, Lailas paid to clean and decontaminate the vessel, lost access to it and experienced physical contamination of his property.
The complaint alleges that DC Water, as the pipeline’s owner and operator, was responsible for keeping it reasonably safe and preventing foreseeable damage. Preliminary information cited in the filing indicates that thousands of people may own vessels or property in affected areas of the river.
Attorney Andrew Levetown said determining the potential size of the class will take time. Business owners, property owners and recreational river users could all claim losses stemming from the collapse, he said.
The lawsuit does not specify how much money it is seeking.
DC Water spokesperson John Lisle described the collapse as a serious and unexpected event. He said the utility remained focused on its response, environmental protection and restoration but would not comment further because of the litigation.
Dripping and high bacteria levels raise new concerns
DC Water has been conducting emergency repairs on the Potomac Interceptor, which carries wastewater from the Dulles area of Loudoun County to the Blue Plains treatment plant in Washington. However, the Potomac Riverkeeper Network says its observations and testing suggest sewage may still be entering the river.
The environmental nonprofit reported continuous dripping from roughly 20 to 30 spots inside a culvert carrying a Potomac tributary beneath the sewage-filled Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
The tributary is on the Maryland side of the river north of McLean. It flows from the Clara Barton Parkway area where the interceptor ruptured, passes through the culvert beneath the canal and empties into the Potomac.
Staff observed the dripping while collecting water samples on Feb. 19, Feb. 23, March 3 and March 5. It remains unclear when the suspected leak began.
Evan Quinter, the organization’s water quality and volunteer coordinator, said both liquid and solid sewage had accumulated in the canal. He described deposits rising above the waterline and forming what appeared to be islands of solid waste. Constant dripping was visible from the culvert ceiling, he said.
Tests showed E. coli levels upstream of the culvert had fallen within the Environmental Protection Agency’s recreational safety limit of 410. Samples collected inside and downstream of the culvert remained far above that threshold.
The network said those results could indicate active contamination. It notified DC Water, the National Park Service, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Quinter said the dripping also raised questions about the C&O Canal’s structural integrity because accumulating solid sewage could add weight and pressure. He said DC Water told the organization it would investigate.
Repairs continue as restrictions remain
The Jan. 19 collapse released more than 200 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared an emergency Feb. 18 and asked President Donald Trump for federal help responding to a leak that had released an estimated 250 million gallons of raw sewage during its early stages. Trump approved emergency assistance several days later.
DC Water has acknowledged that the pipeline, installed in the 1960s, was deteriorating. Rehabilitation of a section about a quarter-mile, or 400 meters, from the rupture began in September and was recently completed. The section that broke had been scheduled for repairs this summer.
The utility says emergency repair work is more than halfway finished and that sewage is no longer flowing into the river.
Officials are still investigating the rupture, including whether the pipeline’s original construction contributed to the failure. DC Water CEO David Gadis said during a public briefing that early evidence suggested the incident may have been highly unusual, though he cautioned that it was too soon for a firm conclusion.
The Virginia Department of Health recently lifted an advisory covering some recreational use of the Potomac. Officials still recommend avoiding contact with a 4.7-mile section between the American Legion Bridge in McLean and Chain Bridge in Arlington.
Quinter said he largely supports DC Water’s repair and cleanup work but wants more frequent inspections across the entire Potomac Interceptor. His organization is also calling for remediation and environmental monitoring to extend farther downstream through Maryland and into Washington.
He warned that longer-term effects could include algal blooms and fish deaths, requiring continued monitoring and preparations for additional environmental response.