The U.S. Department of Justice sued the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority on Monday over a catastrophic sewage spill that dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of raw, untreated waste into the Potomac River.
The complaint, which was filed in federal court, is the most recent and consequential legal action since the Jan. 19 collapse of the Potomac Interceptor, a 72-inch-diameter sewer line initially constructed in the 1960s that passes through the C&O Canal National Historical Park, which spans 184.5 miles, near Montgomery County, Maryland.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the collapse resulted in about 240 million gallons of raw wastewater flowing into the Potomac River until an emergency bypass went live on Jan. 24….