Did Mayor Muriel Bowser finally decide that the ecological catastrophe needed immediate help, or was she just seeing the incoming political shitstorm if this didn’t get fixed?

As our readers know, there is a massive sewage leak that dumped millions and millions of gallons of fecal matter and wastewater straight into the Potomac River.

The massive 72-inch pipeline, known as the Potomac Interceptor, ruptured on January 19. The leak sent 250 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Potomac River just north of Washington in the first five days.

DC Water, the local utility, has been working with other agencies, including the EPA, to repair the leak and monitor the ecological impact on the river.

President Trump has brought up the sewage line break on Truth Social, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that there are concerns about getting the line fixed and the damage mitigated before the celebrations this summer.

President Donald Trump is worried the Potomac River will still stink when America250 celebrations kick off this summer following a sewage leak that dumped millions of gallons of raw filth into the water outlining the nation’s capital, according to the White House.

“There are a lot of events coming up for America 250,” Fox News’ Peter Doocy said to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Wednesday during a White House press conference. “The president wants people from all over to come to the nation’s capital. Is he worried that by the summer, the Potomac River will still smell like poop?”

Leavitt confirmed the president’s concern, after chuckling.

“Yeah, he is worried about that,” Leavitt said. “Which is why the federal government wants to fix it. And we hope that the local authorities will cooperate with us in doing so.”

Leavitt called on leaders in the two states and D.C. to “step forward and to ask the federal government for help and to ask for the Stafford Act to be implemented here so that the federal government can go and take control of this local infrastructure that has been abandoned and neglected by Governor Moore in Maryland for far too long.”

However, the powers-that-be in the area, whom you would think would feel a sense of urgency about the smelly debacle, have not seemed to act in any kind of haste. DC Water processes this waste that comes from both Maryland and Virginia, so whatever happens here impacts both these states AND the District of Columbia. Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, as Toni pointed out, is more worked up about protecting his personal narrative than asserting his leadership in this instance. The brand new governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, is weirdly AWOL on this matter, but apparently the Fairfax County government is taking charge by… telling people to not flush the “flushable” wipes. Such leadership, much wow.

Halloo, rest of Virginia! Fairfax here. Mayhaps you would enjoy representation from only this land of plenty, where we, the self-appointed Lords of this Great Commonwealth, ration the people in their toilet flushes and wiping material, so that we might not live in too much… https://t.co/3Dme1pwYGJ

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) February 18, 2026

And the DC Water leadership doesn’t seem to be very experienced or talented in getting things fixed.

In case you’re wondering, this is the same guy who had a big part in lying about the Flint Water crisis, which put Michigan residents in danger. https://t.co/M6j7JrmQvx https://t.co/J7a8uVHR2y

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 18, 2026

The Chair of @dcwater board isn’t an engineer, or city planner

Dr. Unique N. Morris-Hughes is a DEI bureaucrat, non profit “educator”, grant disperser of taxpayer money, & former asst head of a boys charter school

She’s now head of the largest raw sewage spill in US history https://t.co/q443ILBfHk pic.twitter.com/Ak4nkE7TWB

— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) February 18, 2026

Well, Mayor Muriel Bowser isn’t running for re-election, so I guess she drew the poopy straw and gets to ask President Trump for help.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has declared local public emergency regarding the sewage spill in the Potomac River, according to the Mayor’s Office.

The declaration allowed her to also make a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration request, which could bring in federal support to help respond to the disaster.

The request seeks 100% reimbursement for costs incurred by the District and DC Water and also requests support in other areas including but not limited to improving coordination between affected states, D.C. and federal agencies as the response continues, enhanced water quality monitoring, and testing and other preventative measures, according to the mayor’s office.

This comes after District officials met with Environmental Protection Agency officials Wednesday at the White House.

Mayor Bowser sent out her deputy mayor to speak with the media, and apparently there is no timeline for repairs and no idea how much this will cost. There is also a lot of pointed fingers about who exactly does have jurisdiction – something that is now presumably moot with the disaster declaration from Bowser.

The spill occurred at a confluence of federal and local jurisdiction. D.C. Water, which serves residents in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, controls the pipeline that collapsed. The sewage flowed into Maryland waters before going downstream into the District. Federal land operated by the National Park Service surrounds the spill site.

(D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey) Appiah said Wednesday evening that the mayor’s declaration and request was D.C.’s path toward securing more resources for recovery from the spill — and better coordinating the various local and federal agencies with jurisdiction over the river and spill site.

D.C. Water activated an emergency bypass system within about a week of the spill, but full repairs to the pipeline and other recovery efforts will take much longer.

Appiah declined to provide a cost estimate for repairs and recovery, noting that assessments were still ongoing, but said that D.C. Water had so far spent in the “tens of millions” on its response to the pipeline collapse and spill.

It also must be noted that FEMA is currently out of commission, since they are shut down thanks to the lack of DHS funding. Maybe the Democrat senators who are refusing to vote on the funding need to take a very stinky three hour tour of the Potomac River. Perhaps the stench will convince them that FEMA needs to be funded, since ICE already has their money? After all, even if the emergency declaration by Mayor Bowser allows them to ask FEMA for federal assistance, there’s little FEMA can do if they have no money in their budget.

As the weather gets warmer in the greater Washington DC area, the bacteria is going to cook, and the stench is going to begin to rise. President Trump is right, and Mayor Bowser noted it as well – the District of Columbia needs the tourism, and the celebrations this summer for the 250th anniversary of the United States are going to be big in the capital. Let’s hope that this declaration is the first step in getting a rapid repair on the pipeline completed, and launches a cleanup effort that can hopefully prevent DC from smelling like an open sewer this summer.

Featured image: official photo of Mayor Muriel Bowser, cropped, CC BY 3.0 US