The District of Columbia’s Water and Sewer Authority’s board of directors voted Friday to remove CEO David Gadis after months of criticism surrounding his handling of a January sewage spill that released more than 240 million gallons of raw wastewater into the Potomac River.
The decision came one day after the district’s leading mayoral candidates, socialist Janeese Lewis George and centrist Kenyan McDuffie, disagreed at a Thursday night debate about whether or not Gadis should be fired.
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They were asked directly by News4’s Mark Segraves whether they think Gadis should remain as CEO of DC Water.
Lewis George paused before responding “no,” while McDuffie stated he “doesn’t have enough information to make that decision,” but the “person responsible should be gone.”
Lewis George, a liberal councilwoman, will face the pro-business councilman-at-large in a primary election on June 16. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser announced last November she would not seek reelection.
The two have sparred over youth curfews and crime policy, and Lewis George has the support of many local unions, while McDuffie is endorsed by many business trade groups. Lewis George leads McDuffie by eleven percentage points among likely Democratic voters in the latest polling.
Gadis became the face of DC Water’s response after a pipe in the Potomac Interceptor near the Clara Barton Parkway sanitary sewer system collapsed on Jan 19. He was a prominent figure in the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, as he was a top executive at an engineering firm that later settled civil claims alleging it contributed to the lead contamination.
The Department of Justice alleged in an April lawsuit that DC Water violated the Clean Water Act by ignoring warning signs that a deteriorating pipe might collapse. House and Energy Committee Republicans opened an investigation into the matter in late February.
Gadis had “been placed on a performance improvement plan by the board because of concerns about his management,” according to sources who spoke with News4. Eight board members voted in favor of separation, and three voted present at the closed-door executive meeting held Friday morning.
The board of directors said in a statement Gadis would “remain in his role during a transition period as the Board conducts a national search for his successor.”
On Thursday, DC launched an online dashboard led by local nonprofit organizations that helps the public track the water quality of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, the latter of which has been called the “most endangered river in America” by the Potomac Conservancy.
DC ROLLS OUT WATER QUALITY DASHBOARD AFTER POTOMAC SEWAGE SPILL
Bowser requested federal emergency assistance from the Trump administration after declaring the sewage spill a “national disaster” one month after the incident. The sewage spill is the largest in US history.
The Washington Examiner reached out to DC Water and the Lewis George campaign for comment.
