The discharge of wastewater into the Potomac River, which flows through the US capital Washington, threatens an environmental disaster, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said at a regular briefing.
She expressed hope that the states of Maryland and Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia, will “request assistance from federal authorities“. This will allow the government to deploy forces “to take control of local infrastructure, long neglected and abandoned by Maryland Governor Moore“.
“Let's hope that the governor will make the right decision and ask President Donald Trump to intervene, because the situation, if the federal government does not take action, threatens an environmental disaster. But it takes a formal request from state and local governments,” Leavitt said.
Earlier, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that utilities and environmental agencies had begun cleaning up a major spill in the Potomac River. Trump noted that a “massive environmental disaster” was unfolding in Maryland due to a burst sewer pipe that has contaminated the Potomac River.