DC Water Sewage Spill Class-Action Lawsuit

WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

Hagens Berman and its co-counsel, Levetown Law and GWMears Law, filed a class-action lawsuit representing those living in the area of Washington, D.C. affected by a massive 243-million-gallon sewage spill into the Potomac River on Jan. 19, 2026. The spill resulted in massive damage to property and the environment, including reported E. coli concentrations at the outflow near Lock 10 exceeding 4,000,000 MPN/100 mL, well above the 410 MPN/100 mL primary-contact threshold. The lawsuit seeks to hold DC Water accountable for having “failed to implement adequate interim safeguards, emergency preparedness plans, or monitoring protocols…”

HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M AFFECTED?

The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of all individuals or entities who, between Jan. 19, 2026, and the date on which the overflow was contained, fall into one or more of the following categories:

• owned or occupied real property adjacent to the Potomac River or its tributaries within 15 miles downstream of the Potomac Interceptor collapse site near Lock 10 of the C&O Canal;
• and/or owned a vessel that was moored at a marina or docking facility on the Potomac River within 15 miles downstream of the collapse site, including but not limited to Columbia Island Marina, Washington Sailing Marina, Fletcher’s Boathouse, Thompson Boat Center and the Georgetown Waterfront;
• and who incurred out-of-pocket costs, business interruption damages, property contamination or cleaning costs, or other concrete economic losses proximately caused by the overflow event.

The class area boundary and class period end date are subject to change based on information that may be obtained during discovery, according to attorneys. Attorneys estimate thousands of people are affected and live within the area affected by the wastewater overflow.

DC WATER WASTEWATER SPILL EXPLAINED

DC Water owns, operates and maintains the Potomac Interceptor, which DC Water describes as a regional sanitary sewer system conveying on the order of 60 million gallons of wastewater daily. On Jan. 19, 2026, a 72-inch diameter section of the PI collapsed along the Clara Barton Parkway near the Interstate 495 interchange in Montgomery County, Maryland, within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park near Lock 10.

“The collapse caused massive volumes of raw, untreated sewage to overflow directly into the Potomac River,” the lawsuit states. “DC Water publicly estimated that approximately 243 million gallons of wastewater overflowed from the collapse site, with approximately 194 million gallons occurring within the first five days...”

DC WATER’S DUTY TO RESIDENTS

The lawsuit highlights DC Water’s prior knowledge of infrastructure deterioration, stating, “DC Water had extensive, actual, and documented knowledge of the deteriorated condition of the Potomac Interceptor for over a decade prior to the January 19, 2026 collapse.”

According to the lawsuit, DC Water publicly acknowledged that between 2011 and 2015 it inspected the Potomac Interceptor and that the inspected pipe segments indicated “the majority of the pipe segments show signs of corrosion.” The PI corridor where the collapse occurred had been under active rehabilitation since September 2025 as part of a rehabilitation project, but the specific section that collapsed had not yet been rehabilitated.

“DC Water’s engineers and contractors were physically present in the immediate vicinity of the section that would fail four months later, performing work on the same pipeline prompted by the same corrosion findings, yet took no documented steps to assess or safeguard the adjacent unremediated section,” the lawsuit states.

YOUR RIGHTS FOR THE JAN. 19, 2026 SPILL

The lawsuit seeks relief under federal law, including additional claims that may be brought under the Clean Water Act. The lawsuit brings claims for negligence, private nuisance, public nuisance and trespass and states that DC Water breached its duty in multiple respects, adding, “DC Water’s conduct further constitutes gross negligence and conscious disregard of a known risk.”

Attorneys also seek injunctive relief that would require DC Water to

• complete repair of the collapsed section of the PI on an expedited schedule;
• develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring, maintenance, and emergency preparedness program for the PI system, with priority given to highest risk sections;
• implement interim protective measures including enhanced monitoring, pre-positioned emergency bypass equipment, and containment systems for all high-risk segments; and
• submit regular public reports on the condition and repair status of the PI system.

HOW CAN A CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT HELP?

Through a class-action lawsuit, individual private citizens can collectively bring claims against those who would otherwise ignore the complaints of individual citizens. A class-action lawsuit seeks to level the playing field, bringing strength to collective action to seek justice in the aftermath of negligence affecting many people. If you are a member of the proposed class, you will be covered by the class action should the court approve it as such, but if you wish to help, please contact us.

TOP ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FIRM

Hagens Berman is a nationally recognized class action and environmental law firm and has achieved total settlements valued at more than $345 billion in litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. Your claim will be handled by attorneys experienced in complex litigation. The firm also specifically and expertly takes on cases upholding the rights of our precious ecosystem under the law.

NO COST TO YOU

In no case will any class member ever be asked to pay any out-of-pocket sum. In the event Hagens Berman or any other firm obtains a settlement that provides benefits to class members, the court will decide a reasonable fee to be awarded to the legal team for the class.