Ahead of Sewage Crisis, DC Water Officials Focused on DEI

DC Water, the public utility responsible for the massive sewage spill in the Potomac River, focused much of its attention on environmentalism and diversity, equity, and inclusion goals in recent years.The spill, considered one of the largest wastewater disasters in U.S. history, has placed DC Water’s DEI priorities in the spotlight. In 2021, DC Water became one of the first public utilities in the country to release a report on its Environmental, Social, and Governance priorities, a framework used by investors to measure a company’s commitments to leftist causes, including fighting climate change. Then, in February 2022, DC Water CEO David Gadis touted the utility’s emphasis on forming a leadership team made up mostly of minorities and women.When I arrived at DC Water, this was an organization that looked very similar to our industry, and it was predominantly, you know, white male at the top, said Gadis, who was tapped as DC Water’s CEO in 2018. But this was a utility that more than 70% people of color worked at this utility, and I really believe and I still believe — the outcomes have been fantastic — that the people at the top, the executives, the chiefs in that C-suite, they should look like the employees that they serve and they work with.Gadis made the comments on DEI during an appearance on a show hosted by the American Water Works Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring safe water.So my executive team looks exactly like the community, it looks like the employees, the staff, be it people of color, women, men, Gadis added. It is just a fantastic team that has come together to do a lot of great things here at DC Water and in the community for the customers.Asked by American Water Works CEO David LaFrance to describe what his executive team looks like, Gadis replied, We have three women, three women of color, and we have five males total. And of those five males, three of them are of color. And then we have two males that are caucasian. So we are getting that total cross-sectional conversation that’s occurring.DC Water CEO David Gadis and Board Chair Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes are joined by Mayor Muriel Bowser to celebrate the launch of the machine to help reduce wastewater flow into the Potomac River on November 4, 2025 / Screenshot: Instagram/D.C. Department of Employee ServicesDC Water’s sewage spill debacle comes just one month after a public utility in Nashville was slammed for its focus on DEI after an ice storm knocked out power for residents for weeks. Between 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the Nashville Electric Service held 102 DEI sessions to foster a culture of civility and belonging within our organization with the hopes of extending that dynamic beyond our walls. Last month, the electric service faced increased scrutiny for its delayed response to widespread power outages in Nashville.The sewage spill, which began last month, has unleashed hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River, forcing authorities to issue alerts to residents in the nation’s capital, Maryland, and Virginia to avoid contact with the river as E.coli levels skyrocketed. DC Water said the disaster was caused by the partial collapse of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line, which resulted in a massive overflow of wastewater that made its way into the Potomac.In just the first five days after the sewer line’s collapse, around 194 million gallons overflowed, DC Water said on February 6. In an update this week, the utility said that a total of 243.5 million gallons have spilled into the Potomac since January 19.Earlier this week, President Donald Trump expressed frustration with state and local leaders over what he viewed as a slow response to the sewage spill. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was directing federal authorities to take over the management of the sewage spill response, writing, I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone.Betsy Nicholas, president of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, told The Hill that DC Water knew the collapsed sewer line needed to be repaired and had money allocated for it.It just seems … the whole pipeline collapsed before they were able to do any work on it, Nicholas added.Under Gadis, DC Water has also sought to award contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses, The Daily Caller reported on Tuesday. In fiscal year 2024 alone, DC Water awarded women-owned and disadvantaged businesses around $520 million of its $1.33 billion in total awards. Gadis also believes it’s important for the utility to have a diverse workforce to establish trust with homeowners who like to see people that look like them and walk like them.The Daily Wire reached out to DC Water for comment.The massive sewage spill also marks a rough spot for a utility that vowed to provide high quality water services in a safe, environmentally friendly, and efficient manner.In its 2021 ESG report, DC Water said it was committed to finding renewable energy solutions for our energy demand to mitigate our contribution to climate change. The utility also said it was committed to providing healthy water throughout our operations, and dramatically reduce the amount of solids, nitrogen, and phosphorous in the cleaned water we return to the Potomac to protect our local rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.The Environmental Protection Agency, led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, said that DC Water had not yet reached out for federal help despite the massive scale of the disaster.The Potomac Interceptor overflow is a sewage crisis of historic proportion. Never should any American family, community, or waterway ever have to experience this level of extensive environmental damage, Zeldin wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. This mess must be completely addressed as fast as humanly possible, and the Trump EPA stands ready, motivated, and highly capable to assist in any way possible to fulfill President Trump’s strong desire to END this disaster.Water testing in the Potomac River earlier this week revealed E.coli levels hundreds of times higher than what the EPA considers safe, DC Water officials said. Local authorities have assured residents, There is no impact to the drinking water supply, as the sewer and water systems are completely separate.

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