<\/p>\n
A month after one of the largest sewage spills in US history began soiling the Potomac River, Donald Trump<\/a> and the Maryland governor, Wes Moore, are fighting over who bears responsibility for a disaster involving a federally regulated pipeline that Moore does not control.<\/p>\n The president used his social media platform on Monday to accuse Moore of \u201cgross mismanagement\u201d after a big sewer line ruptured last month, causing what researchers describe as one of the largest sewage spills in US history.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a massive Ecological Disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland<\/a>,\u201d Trump posted on Truth Social. \u201cIt is clear Local Authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the 1960s-era pipeline, known as the Potomac Interceptor, is operated by DC Water<\/a>, a Washington-based utility that falls under federal regulation and oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).<\/p>\n Moore\u2019s spokesperson rejected the president\u2019s criticism, saying Trump had \u201chis facts wrong\u201d, adding that federal authorities, not state officials, hold responsibility for the infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cApparently the Trump administration<\/a> hadn\u2019t gotten the memo that they\u2019re actually supposed to be in charge here,\u201d said spokesperson Ammar Moussa, adding that EPA officials had failed to attend recent legislative hearings about the cleanup.<\/p>\n The 72in-diameter pipe collapsed on 19 January, releasing more than 200m gallons of untreated sewage into the river north-west of the capital. The sewage continues to flow into the Potomac while emergency repairs are under way, with officials warning the spill poses significant environmental and public health risks to the region.<\/p>\n Repairs are expected to take between four and six weeks for immediate fixes, according to DC Water<\/a>, though local officials have indicated the complete restoration<\/a> could take up to 10 months. In the meantime, authorities have warned the public to avoid contact with the Potomac River and to keep pets away from the water, though officials maintain that drinking water drawn from upstream remains safe.<\/p>\n Trump announced he would deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate the response \u2013 calling on an agency he has repeatedly attacked since taking office and which is now caught in a funding impasse. The partial government shutdown, which began on Saturday, has left the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Fema, without funding after congressional Democrats and the Trump administration failed to reach agreement on legislation.<\/p>\n The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, pointed to the sewage spill as a reason Democrats should \u201cget serious and fund\u201d the department, even as Trump directed the unfunded agency to lead the response.<\/p>\n The dispute is another flashpoint in an increasingly bitter feud between Trump and Moore, who some view as a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. After first inviting the governor, Trump excluded Moore from a White House dinner for governors scheduled for Saturday and has previously threatened to deploy national guard troops to Baltimore over concerns about violent crime.<\/p>\n Trump has also challenged Moore over \u201cDEI contracting practices\u201d and what he calls \u201cballooning project costs\u201d for the reconstruction of Baltimore\u2019s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in March 2024 after a container ship struck it.<\/p>\n Trump told reporters on Monday evening that his dissatisfaction with Moore\u2019s handling of the sewage spill and the bridge reconstruction informed his decision to disinvite the governor. \u201cHe can\u2019t fix anything,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Moore\u2019s office said in a statement that Maryland remained prepared to work with federal officials.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Potomac isn\u2019t a talking point,\u201d Moussa said, \u201cand the people of the region deserve serious leadership that meets the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Trump #Maryland #governor #feud #Potomac #River #sewage #spill #disaster #Maryland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A month after one of the large… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22967"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}