So, who here would eat poop? It seems that DC officials are practically saying the fish in the Potomac River are safe to eat. I think that’s a terrible idea. It was bad a decade ago, and it’s even worse now. If you’re willing to risk your health, go ahead and eat the river fish, but you might as well eat diarrhea too.
This comes after the heinous raw sewage spillage into the river about five weeks ago. The line ruptured, pouring over 240 million gallons of human waste into the river. Again, it’s not like the river was clean before—it’s straight-up unsafe now. We’ll see how the row teams who deal with this, but water sports are unsafe right now. Think the Seine during the Olympics. And now we have Richard Jackson, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), saying he’d still eat the fish from the river (via NBC Washington):
Despite @DOEE_DC telling public to avoid Potomac River and fishing the Director of DC Dept of Environment says he would eat fish caught in Potomac River in DC now. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/UWI65YuE9p
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) February 17, 2026
The director of the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment told the D.C. Council he believes fish caught in the Potomac River are safe to eat despite his agency’s guidance to avoid contact with the river and specifically not to fish in the river after a sewage spill four weeks ago.
DC Water briefed councilmembers on the situation before participating in a press conference for the first time since an underground pipe burst, sending more than 240 million gallons of raw sewage and wastewater into the Potomac.
At the Council briefing, DOEE Director Richard Jackson downplayed the seriousness of recent test results showing elevated E. coli levels in the river. After the meeting, he refused to explain himself.
What a clown.
Repairs are expected to take up to ten months to complete.
Stay out of the water.
POOTOMAC CALAMITY UPDATE: It's not just the incompetence in the slow/lackluster response from DC Water that is problematic... but also leadership's laughable lack of proactivity or knowledge of the pipeline's condition before it ruptured. https://t.co/7a3m9zyRYs
— Spencer Brown (@SpencerBrown) February 21, 2026
