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Jess Kramer says federal resources enabled concurrent remediation of Potomac Interceptor collapse
Summary
Jess Kramer said remediation of the collapsed Potomac Interceptor is already underway and that a presidential emergency declaration allowed federal resources, including the EPA, to begin reclamation work before wastewater service was fully restored; DC Water is targeting mid-March to return wastewater to the pipe.
Jess Kramer, an agency official, said remediation actions are already under way at the site of the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor. "We are already taking actions to remediate this site," Kramer said.
Kramer told listeners that DC Water initially led the response and focused its resources on stabilizing the collapse and restoring wastewater flow, with remediation originally planned to follow once wastewater was back in the pipe. "Initially, with DC Water in the lead they were focused on the collapse and so they were using their resources there as they should be with the understanding that remediation would come after the collapse was fixed," Kramer said.
She said a presidential emergency declaration granted by President Trump allowed the federal government to deploy additional resources, enabling remediation to proceed concurrently with repairs. "With the deployment of federal resources after President Trump granted the emergency declaration, the federal government is able to come in and actually run that remediation concurrent," Kramer said.
Kramer identified a mid-March deadline as DC Water's projected timeline to remediate the collapse and to return wastewater to the Potomac Interceptor. She added that the Environmental Protection Agency and federal teams "will be on the ground until the remediation and reclamation of this site is complete." Kramer described success as "getting this site back to exactly what it looked like before the collapse occurred. And we're gonna get there."
No formal vote or regulatory action was recorded in the transcript; the remarks described ongoing operational response and a federal presence on site until reclamation is finished.
