Chairmen Guthrie, Joyce, and Palmer Expand Investigation into Potomac Interceptor Collapse
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-06), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, sent a letter to Garney Companies, Inc., a contractor that was under consideration for an Emergency Master Service Agreement with DC Water to rehabilitate the Potomac Interceptor (PI) sewer line prior to its collapse on January 19, 2026. “The collapsed portion of DC Water’s PI sewer line has resulted in what has been called ‘one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history.’ The consequences of this spill continue to be evaluated, and the Committee remains concerned by the potential impacts to public health, safe drinking water, the environment, interstate commerce, and tourism,” said Chairmen Guthrie, Joyce, and Palmer. “The resilience of our wastewater infrastructure systems remains critical, and the Committee aims to understand what risks were determined prior to this incident and how future incidents may be prevented.” Key excerpt from the letter: “As part of its investigation, the Committee continues to obtain information from entities and individuals with knowledge that is relevant to this incident. According to the DC Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors, Garney Companies, Inc (Garney) was under consideration for a potential Emergency Master Service Agreement for the PI rehabilitation, which was anticipated to begin on May 15, 2025. However, the contract was never finalized. The Committee is requesting information related to this contract and any additional information that your company may have related to the site of the PI wastewater collapse prior to the incident. “It is the Committee’s understanding that the potential agreement between DC Water and Garney would have covered a period of two years. The purpose of this contract was stated to ‘[p]rovide program management, preconstruction and emergency construction services to rehabilitate and provide redundancy for the Potomac Interceptor.’ Additionally, the project scope included a number of repairs and upgrades to improve the reliability of this critical Infrastructure.” CLICK HERE to read the full letter. Background: The Committee launched its investigation into the Potomac Interceptor collapse on February 20, 2026. Today’s letter to Garney represents the next step in uncovering what went wrong. DC Water was considering an Emergency Master Service Agreement with Garney to “provide program management, preconstruction and emergency construction services to rehabilitate and provide redundancy” for the PI. That contract was anticipated to begin May 15, 2025, but the contract was never finalized. The January 19, 2026, collapse of the PI sewer line has been called one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history, with consequences for public health, safe drinking water, the environment, interstate commerce, and tourism still being evaluated. The Committee is requesting all documents and communications related to Garney’s proposal, the unimplemented emergency contract, and information related to the collapse site prior to the incident—seeking to understand what risks were known beforehand and how future incidents can be prevented. ###