A 54-inch water main burst early Monday morning, destroying a church, stores and cars as 50 million gallons of water gushed through Capitol Heights. “We’re just grateful we weren’t there,” said pastor Stephanie Stratford of the 60-member Ekklesia Family Life and Worship Center. “It would’ve been devastating and probably a loss of life and definitely a lot of human injury.”
The 4 a.m. ruptures of the 40-year-old concrete cylinder pipe flipped several parked cars and closed down the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway during the morning rush hour. The Beltway didn’t fully reopen until midafternoon.
The break affected about 400,000 Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission customers, who were told to boil water until further notice, said spokeswoman Lyn Riggins. The WSSC is the water utility for Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
| Recent breaks |
| » July 2010: Acoustic fiber optics alerted officials who stopped a failing 96-inch main, the largest in WSSC’s system, from breaking on Tuckerman Lane in Potomac. |
| » January 2009: A 42-inch water main broke on Henderson Road in Prince George’s County. |
| » December 2008: A 66-inch water main broke on River Road in Potomac. Nine trapped motorists were rescued. |
| » June 2008: A 48-inch water main broke in Bernard Frank Park in Derwood. |
WSSC General Manager Jerry Johnson said he wants everything “repaired as quickly as possible and inspected” so officials can determine the cause.
But until a forensic analysis is completed in several weeks, Riggins said officials won’t know why the pipe burst.
“Water can do an unbelievable amount of damage,” Riggins acknowledged from the Capitol Heights office park, where crews towed away cars and picked up dozens of church chairs scattered throughout the area.
There were no reported injuries, though firefighters said they retrieved a driver who was stranded on an embankment on Interstate 495.
“Thank goodness it wasn’t Sunday or a weekday time because all these businesses would’ve been filled and the church over here would’ve been filled,” Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., said after touring the destruction.
Edwards said the break highlights how the area has “disinvested in our infrastructure,” something she says has to change. “It’s time for us to step that up.”
Riggins said at least 278 water main breaks and leaks have occurred in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties already this year. There were 2,096 reported in 2010.
The area’s water infrastructure is old and crumbling, with several high-profile water main breaks in recent years. Montgomery County residents endured a July 4 weekend of limited water use because of a faulty main. A 66-inch main broke on River Road in December 2008, necessitating the rescue of several people by helicopter.
The Prince George’s advisory to boil water will continue until water samples are tested and declared safe, officials said. Riggins said there’s no evidence of contamination in residents’ water, but there is a higher risk after a water main breaks.
By Monday afternoon, an orange sticker declaring “this building is unsafe” was placed on the door of Stratford’s church on East Hampton Drive, now filled with mud and pieces of broken air conditioner units. Stratford said WSSC officials had already spoken to her about compensation for the church.
A spokesman for WSSC said it is “standard practice” for the agency to provide restitution after such incidents.
“Even though we lost everything, that can be replaced,” Stratford said. “We’re safe.”
