"The January 19 Potomac Interceptor Pipe sewer line break happened to coincide with a spate of extremely cold weather across the DC region, so a lot of the dirty river water had been frozen until a recent string of above-freezing days. The Potomac Riverkeeper Network's Dean Naujoks told Washingtonian about two weeks after the spill began that experts were unsure how the contamination would play out once that ice started thawing-now, we're getting an idea."
"However, conditions appeared to worsen at the Lock 10 spill site in Cabin John over the course of the past week as temperatures warmed; water quality samples taken on February 12 show E. coli levels approximately 123 times the safe limit for human contact, while levels measured on February 17 amount to about 197 times that limit at the same location."
More than a month after the January 19 Potomac Interceptor Pipe sewer line break, harmful bacteria persist in the Potomac River. Extremely cold weather froze much of the contaminated water until recent thawing. Testing by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network shows overall E. coli improvement since the spill's early days, but severe spikes occurred at the Lock 10 spill site: February 12 samples showed roughly 123 times the safe limit and February 17 samples about 197 times. Unsafe E. coli reached as far as seven miles downstream at Fletcher's Cove. Rain and snowmelt can release residual sewage and cause fluctuating contamination. Staph aureus detections increased across sampled sites and were found at Fletcher's Cove and another site 20 miles south.
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