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WATER AUTHORITY
River Pipe That Leaked Sewage Is Patched
The leakage of raw sewage into the Anacostia River was stopped yesterday after two eight-inch holes in a pipe were covered and, as a precaution, portable pumps were placed at the construction site where the leak occurred, a D.C. Water and Sewer Authority official said.
John Dunn, WASA's chief engineer and its deputy general manager, said a diver discovered that a contractor had accidentally drilled two holes through the top and bottom of a pipe. The concrete line is about seven feet below the surface of the river, Dunn said.
The construction is part of a $50 million project near the O Street Pumping Station and the Main Pumping Station, he said. The work, designed to stabilize the river wall, will continue for another month.
Dunn said the amount of sewage that leaked did not pose a threat to residents. "A thimbleful is not good, but I don't think there was any public health hazard," he said.
It was not evident why the contractor drilled through the pipe, Dunn said, but "clearly, he made a mistake." WASA installed a sleeve, or round piece of pipe, to stop the leak.
"We have no reason to think it won't work," Dunn said.
The line that was affected feeds into one of three larger lines that carry sewage across the Anacostia River en route to the Blue Plains treatment plant.
-- Yolanda Woodlee
D.C. COUNCIL
