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WASHINGTON — <\/span>The January collapse of a pipe as wide as a car dumped so much sewage into the Potomac River that officials tracked a spike of gut-wrenching bacteria drifting slowly past Washington for weeks, prompting an emergency declaration<\/a> and federal assistance.<\/p>\n It was a disaster of historic scale \u2014 244 million gallons (924 million liters) spilled \u2014 spotlighting the severe consequences of old, failing infrastructure. But smaller sewer overflows that draw far less notice are common. Tens of thousands occur every year across the U.S., contaminating rivers, flooding streets and sometimes causing backups into homes that threaten human health.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really one of those out of sight, out of mind problems that doesn\u2019t rise to the top until it becomes a crisis,\u201d said Alice Volpitta, the Baltimore Harbor waterkeeper with the nonprofit Blue Water Baltimore.<\/p>\n At least 18.7 million people are served by one of roughly 1,000 utilities that are in serious violation of pollution limits. At least 2.7 million live with a system that violated federal clean water rules continually over the last three years, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data.<\/p>\n In Maryland it is Baltimore, not the nation’s capital nearby, that has seen hundreds of sewer overflows in recent years often caused by broken pipes, tree roots or severe storms. Cities like Houston, Memphis and Cahokia Heights, Illinois, have reached court agreements<\/a> to address their problems. And in places where sewage and rain flow through the same pipes, heavy rains made worse by climate change can make overflows to waterways more frequent and severe.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump called<\/a> state and local leaders \u201cincompetent\u201d over the spill, but some experts say his administration’s funding cuts are adding to the national problem. Many utilities can\u2019t afford upgrades \u2014 the Environmental Protection Agency says hundreds of billions are needed over the next two decades.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to see probably more incidents like we saw with the Potomac sewage spill,\u201d said Becky Hammer, a senior attorney with the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.<\/p>\n A neighbor’s message alerted Teddy Bloomquist to a potential flooding problem. Downstairs in his Baltimore row house, cloudy brown water with chunks of human waste was coming up from the shower drain. It was the third sewage backup that winter, each potentially leaving behind harmful bacteria.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taking buckets and it turns out every time someone\u2019s flushing their toilet, it\u2019s coming up,\u201d Bloomquist said. \u201cIt\u2019s just coming so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n Baltimore\u2019s sewer system is more than a century old, with some parts of its tangled web of pipes mapped only in recent decades. Many cracked and leaked from decades of decay, letting rain in and worsening backups that surge through maintenance hole covers, drain into city rivers and flow into basements.<\/p>\n \u201cA spill that happens in a community, in somebody\u2019s house, or right next to their house \u2014 that will be a memory for them forever,\u201d said Sri Vedachalam, a water and climate expert at the consulting firm Corvias Infrastructure Solutions.<\/p>\n Since the start of last year, roughly 15 million gallons (57 million liters) of sewage spilled in Baltimore. A map shows the spill sites scattered like measles across the city.<\/p>\n One neighbor was left with bits of toilet paper frozen into the snow in his backyard and spent the day heaving sewage out of his tub and toilet. Repairs cost thousands, including replacing his bathroom floor. Another neighbor said she used her wet vac to suck up roughly 120 gallons (454 liters) of sewage. <\/p>\n The city has spent nearly $2 billion over more than two decades under a consent decree with federal and state regulators. They\u2019ve installed new water mains, closed off outlets where sewage easily overflowed and stopped sewage bottlenecks from occasionally forming in pipes that feed a treatment plant. <\/p>\n Baltimore\u2019s efforts are reducing sewer overflows but take time and must be balanced with cost, according to city\u2019s Department of Public Works. They\u2019ve made considerable progress — sewer overflows are sharply below a rainy 2018 when their volume equaled about as much as the Potomac spill \u2014 but the city has proposed extending a deadline to complete necessary work to 2046.<\/p>\n Officials offer up to $5,000 to residents cleaning up sewage backups after certain storms, though activists say more is needed. The city said the program is governed by specific eligibility criteria.<\/p>\n Maryland\u2019s progress is known because it’s among states that publicly report overflows. About half of states don’t, according to an Associated Press review of state reporting practices. For a majority of states, the EPA recently extended a federal electronic reporting deadline, from 2025 to 2028, to report overflows. The agency said extensions were needed to smooth the transition.<\/p>\n Flooding and water quality needs over the next two decades have ballooned to at least $630 billion, the EPA estimated in 2024<\/a>. Local residents will pay most of that. The federal government has a smaller role that\u2019s expanded in recent years, but may soon decline.<\/p>\n The 2021 infrastructure law added billions for water needs, but this is the last year money will go out to states for loans to local projects. The Trump administration last year proposed deep cuts to that program and to grants that help states fund environmental oversight including monitoring and protecting water. Congress rejected those cuts, preserving access to funds for Baltimore and other communities, said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat.<\/p>\n But environmental justice efforts to help poor, often largely minority areas were cut as part of the Trump administration\u2019s attack on what it scorned as radical \u2018diversity, equity and inclusion\u2019 programs.<\/p>\n Some small grants were canceled, like $14 million to install septic systems in majority-Black Alabama counties where residents live with sewage piped from their homes onto their property. So were regional assistance centers intended to help small communities plan complex projects and compete for a big pool of new money.<\/p>\n One such center that served six Midwest states was setting up to test drinking water and clean up mold<\/a> in the East St. Louis, Illinois, region, said Bonnie Keeler, who led the center. That project was just one of dozens planned before the program was spiked.<\/p>\n There still are major sources of financing. In November, the EPA announced $6.5 billion for wastewater and drinking water projects through a loan program, plus another $550 million that would be handed to states. The loan program for states has run for nearly 40 years and provided more than $180 billion for over 50,000 low-cost loans, the agency said. The agency offers some technical assistance as well.<\/p>\n \u201cEPA helps invest in our nation\u2019s water infrastructure by identifying needs, funding infrastructure projects through multiple programs, and providing technical assistance to connect communities and tribes to federal funding,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n Bloomquist wants Baltimore to pay for damages and prevent it from happening again. He had to miss several days of work after the January backup and has to replace his basement floor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a saga and now everyone\u2019s on edge. You know, we\u2019re on our group texts, people are like, \u2018Oh no, it is raining,\u2019\u201d Bloomquist said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Wildeman reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press writers Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, and Gabriela Auon Angueira in San Diego contributed.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP\u2019s environmental coverage, visit https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/climate-and-environment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n