Trump Blames Wes Moore for the Potomac Spill. The Sewer Pipe Is Under Federal Oversight.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is accusing President Donald Trump of “lying to the public” about Maryland’s response to the ongoing Potomac River sewage crisis, as the White House escalates its political attacks around the ongoing environmental disaster.

The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized Moore for poor management of water infrastructure and blamed the state for the sewage spill, even though the pipe that collapsed in late January is under federal purview.

Federal officials have been aware of problems with what’s known as the Potomac Interceptor — the sewage line that carries 60 million gallons of wastewater between Virginia and Maryland daily — for several years.

The National Park Service has been working to address the deteriorating quality of the Potomac Interceptor since at least 2022, according to NPS and DC Water documents reviewed by NOTUS.

“Over time, if not renewed, extensive RCP deterioration could result in the release of raw sewage to the environment,” the NPS wrote in its plan to address the issue in 2022. The federal agency also wrote at the time that the pipe was the responsibility of DC Water, not the state of Maryland. DC Water confirmed that a rehabilitation project for the sewage pipe has been in the works and that NPS would have to approve any work on federal land.

DC Water is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, not Maryland or D.C. The land where the pipe broke is managed by NPS.

Despite this, the Trump administration is doubling down that this is Maryland’s problem to fix.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Wednesday that local leaders must ask the federal government for assistance.

“Let’s all hope and pray that this governor [Moore] does the right thing and ask President Trump to get involved,because it will be an ecological and environmental disaster if the federal government does not step in to help,” Leavitt said. “But of course, we need the state and local jurisdictions to make that formal request that’s part of the legal process to move forward.”

Maryland said that’s not the case.

“For the past century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor – not Maryland. The sewage pipe is on federal land,” Moore said Wednesday in a post on X.

In a statement to NOTUS, a White House official acknowledged the ruptured section of the infrastructure is owned by DC Water, but continued to criticize Maryland’s response.

“As the state regulatory enforcer over these concerns, MD demonstrated a lack of prompt coordination with Federal entities despite the ruptured section of infrastructure owned and operated by DC Water being adjacent and running over Federal lands,” the official wrote.

The White House official also claimed that “MD Government has been criticized by the Potomac Riverkeepers Network for not having ‘real, meaningful spill prevention plan[s,]’” citing an article from the local Nexstar Media affiliate, DC News Now. The article is not about Maryland’s government but about DC Water.

“Members of the Potomac Riverkeepers Network raised concerns about how DC Water handled the spill to the Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee,” the article reads.

“I want them to fix the problem, come up with a real, meaningful spill prevention plan or something like this could never happen again,” Dean Naujoks with Potomac Riverkeeper Network told DC News Now.

Well before Trump attacked Moore, federal officials were in conversations about the management of the spill, with EPA officials participating in meetings with the relevant state players, Betsy Nicholas, the president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, told NOTUS. Nicholas did not criticize Maryland’s response.

The EPA was present for a site inspection on Jan. 20, one day after the incident began, according to Maryland’s timeline for the incident.

The Trump administration did not speak publicly about the issue until this weekend when Trump blamed Moore for the crisis in a post on Truth Social.

The White House has only escalated its rhetoric since, with Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and now Leavitt all claiming that Maryland needs to ask for a disaster declaration to address the situation, which would then enable the Federal Emergency Management Agency to spend federal funds to coordinate a response.

Normally, FEMA does not play a role in responding to a sewage spill like this one. FEMA typically coordinates responses to disasters when the crisis overwhelms state officials’ resources. During a disaster, states ask the president to approve an emergency to get federal assistance protecting homes, people and critical infrastructure.

The current Trump administration has frequently denied requests for assistance even for those types of disasters.

“I’ve been doing this work for more than 25 years, and have never interfaced with FEMA,” Nicholas told NOTUS. “If we were in a situation where people had to be moved, or evacuated, FEMA would be involved.”

“Instead, it’s really just a: ‘Keep back from the site where this occurred, and don’t come in contact with the sewage.’ It’s not like sewage bursts into flames or explodes,” she said.

According to Moore’s office, the EPA declined to participate in testimony last Friday before the Maryland legislature, a few days before Trump posted his first attacks on Moore.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin acknowledged in a post Tuesday on X that DC Water is the group responsible for cleanup, remediation, and that EPA is monitoring the spill.

He went on to imply in his post that Maryland and D.C. should request help from the EPA.

“At no point in the lead up to today had DC Water or the state of Maryland requested EPA to take over their responsibilities, and EPA has continued to offer its full support to state and local leaders from the onset. We are ALWAYS ready to lead and assist with our exceptional agency team!!” Zeldin said on X.