Officials are working on sediment testing to examine particle safety levels that could have been affected by the Potomac Interceptor collapse and massive raw sewage spill in January that continues to impact the area.
“I’m sure they’ll find things in the sediment. I don’t necessarily mean pathogens, but they’ll find things in the sediment,” said Sean O’Donnell, the county’s Health and Human Services deputy chief during a media briefing Wednesday.
“But the question will be, what actually constitutes a risk,” O’Donnell said. “When we’ve got that information, we’ll bring that back to the public and share it with our community.”
Montgomery County’s health department is having continual conversations with DC Water, the Maryland Department of Environment and the county’s environmental protection department, as well as their counterparts in Virginia.
The state has the authority to oversee the work to clean and repair the area surrounding the sewage spill and determine safety levels. The county is participating in testing to represent the needs of residents, including communicating health and safety information, O’Donnell explained.
DC Water is also working with the state of Maryland on testing locations and protocols, according to a statement.
The county lifted its recreational advisory for parts of the Potomac River in mid-March after water flow was restored.
“We want to make sure–before we lift the final piece of our advisory–that we have information that will tell us how safe that is,” O’Donnell said.
Water testing for E. coli is currently underway.
Sediment testing differs from water testing because water quality has established safety thresholds defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, such as safety signs at beachesp, O’Donnell said.
