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President Donald Trump on Saturday approved a disaster declaration for Washington, D.C., over the Potomac River sewage disaster.
The declaration will allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to step in and provide assistance after a sewer line collapsed in January and dumped millions of gallons of raw filth into the water outlining the nation’s capital.
“The President’s action authorizes FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe,” FEMA said in a statement.
FEMA’s assistance will cover the nation’s capital and the areas in Maryland and Virginia where the District of Columbia has responsibilities, the agency said.
TRUMP WORRIES POTOMAC ‘WILL STILL STINK’ DURING AMERICA250 CELEBRATION AFTER MASSIVE SEWAGE SPILL
A sewage pipe interceptor ruptured on Jan. 19, releasing upward of 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a disaster emergency over the Potomac sewage spill on Wednesday and requested federal assistance with the cleanup.
Trump has directed his ire toward Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and other local leaders in Virginia and Washington, D.C., on the issue, claiming alleged incompetence led to the disaster.
Moore and his office, however, have pushed back on Trump’s assertions, claiming the federal government has oversight over the sewer utility.
“This is a Washington, D.C., pipe on federal land,” Moore told Fox News Digital this week. “Maryland has nothing to do with this. In fact, the only thing Maryland did was when we saw a neighbor who was in need. That’s why I ordered people, our people to go support them, and that’s what we’ve been doing the past month.”
TRUMP SLAMS MARYLAND GOVERNOR, LAUNCHES FEDERAL EFFORT TO PROTECT POTOMAC AFTER HISTORIC SEWAGE SPILL
“We’ve been doing essentially the federal government’s job, because it’s the federal government’s job to be able to protect the Potomac interconnector, because that’s federal land,” Moore said, adding, “For the president now to come and attack me on this, I find that to be… absurd.”
The sewage pipes are managed by D.C. Water, an independent utility based in the District of Columbia, which has made emergency repairs, but says it will take four to six weeks to completely fix what’s known as a broken interceptor.
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This is a developing news story; check back for updates.
Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence and Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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