Trump says state leaders must request FEMA aid for Potomac sewage spill

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack on Tuesday after saying the federal government would step in to assist with the response to a massive sewage spill polluting the Potomac River.

More than 200 million tons of sewage have overflowed into the river, which borders the US capital, since a section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer pipe ruptured Jan. 19.

Trump said on Monday that he directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to “immediately provide all necessary management, direction and coordination to protect the Potomac, the water supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured national resources in our Nation’s Capital City.”

One day later, however, the president said the Democratic leaders of Maryland, Washington and Virginia would have to “call me and ask, politely, to get it fixed” before the federal government would assist.

“These Democrat-caused disasters, both river and shutdown, will only get worse. The two governors and the mayor of D.C. must act immediately. This is radical left-caused environmental hazard,” he said on his Truth Social platform, alluding to the ongoing partial government shutdown.

“With all of their talk about carbon footprints and everything else, they’re allowing hundreds of tons of sewage to pour into the mighty Potomac, making it much less mighty. Act fast. I am awaiting your call,” he added.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the change.

The University of Maryland said the environmental disaster is “one of the largest sewage spills in US history,” with significantly elevated levels of staph and E. coli found as far as 10 miles downstream from the spill site.