Cleanup begins along the C&O Canal after sewage spill, but rain slows early work

Rain slowed down D.C. Water’s environmental restoration work Tuesday along the C&O Canal and Potomac River, but cleanup efforts are well underway after January’s massive sewage spill.

A special use permit issued by the National Park Service over the weekend cleared the way for D.C. Water to launch the first phase of its environmental restoration plan.

During a tour of the site, Sherri Lewis with D.C. Water pointed out areas where contaminated soil and debris had already been removed and showed the fencing put in place to keep material from washing back into the drainage channel.

“You don’t see work going on right now because we can’t do it when it’s raining,” Lewis said.

Even with the wet weather, she said piles of contaminated material have already been dug out and are ready to be hauled away.

Lewis said the restoration will unfold in stages.

“We’re going to take care of clearing the brush, the debris and contaminated soil … and then we’ll have to come in and revegetate it as part of a second phase,” Lewis said.

Along parts of the work site, trees have been marked for removal where necessary.

She said D.C. Water wants to return the area as closely as possible to its previous condition.

“We care about the Potomac as much as anyone else does, and we want to restore this shared treasure to our region,” she said.

While the cleanup moves forward, as weather allows, the repair work beneath the ground is e...