Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been caught pushing misleading claims about a huge sewage spill near Washington, D.C.
“Thanks to gross mismanagement by Maryland’s Democrat leaders, hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage has reportedly been dumped into the Potomac River—flowing straight through our nation’s capital and endangering millions of people, wildlife, and the entire DC region’s water supply,” Noem posted on X late Monday.
Politico reported in its Playbook newsletter Tuesday that “in fact local drinking water comes from upstream of the leak and is still safe.” An announcement on the spill by the Department of Energy and Environment, dated last Friday, reads: “Drinking water is safe and is not impacted by the sewage release.”
The leak, described by the University of Maryland as “one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history,” began in January following the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor system, which carries upward of 60 million gallons of wastewater every day.
Donald Trump blamed Democrats, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. “There 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,” the president posted Monday in a lengthy Truth Social screed.
“I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone,” he went on, adding he had dispatched officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide support.
The Trump administration has sought to significantly downsize FEMA, a subdivision of the Department of Homeland Security, since Trump took office for the second time last year.
Moore’s office quickly hit back against Trump’s attacks. “The President has his facts wrong—again,” the governor’s spokesperson, Ammar Moussa, said in a statement Monday. “Since the last century, the federal government has been responsible for the Potomac Interceptor, which is the origin of the sewage leak.”
Moussa further noted that the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal entity, had failed to participate in a summit about cleanup efforts last Friday. “Apparently the Trump administration hadn’t gotten the memo that they’re actually supposed to be in charge here,” he said.
The Daily Beast has contacted Noem’s office for comment on this story.
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