Photo by Justin Schuck.

Five million gallons of sewage spilled into the Potomac River on Wednesday. DC Water reports that about 638 million gallons of combined sewage flows into the Potomac River annually due to rainstorms.

DC Water says that the spillage occurred late in the day Wednesday when a break occurred in the Upper Potomac Intercepter, causing millions of gallons of sewage to spill onto the Capital Crescent Trail and overflow into the Potomac River. According to a release, the spill “ran overland and over the trail before reaching the river.” As a result, parts of the Capital Crescent Trail—between Fletchers Cove and the end of the trail in Georgetown—will remain closed until cleanup has finished and the interceptor is repaired.

John Lisle, a spokesman for DC Water, says that the sewage spill has no effect on the city’s drinking water, as the intakes on the Potomac River are upstream from where the spill occurred. He also says that cleanup and repairs for the sewage spill could take “a week or more” to complete. As of now, there’s advisory for the public to “avoid contact with the Potomac River for 72 hours.”

Earlier this year, DC Water unveiled plans to introduce green infrastructure to help reduce combined sewer overflows in the Potomac River, Anacostia River, and Rock Creek Park. Green infrastructure, the proposal states, “is a natural way to manage stormwater by absorbing rain before it enters the sewer or stormwater system.” Since most sewage spills in local watershed are a result of the combined sewer overflow during heavy rain storms, such as the one that occurred earlier this week, DC Water’s $90 million plan would help prevent that from occurring.

The plan would eliminate plans for a drainage tunnel in Rock Creek, instead replacing it with $60 million of green infrastructure to be completed by 2032, while the Potomac River would get $30 million of green infrastructure that would begin installation in 2016 for a target completion of 2028. As for the Anacostia River, the plan would combine green infrastructure with the drainage tunnels already planned

The proposal, however, was met with criticism from local environmental advocacy groups Potomac Riverkeeper, Earthjustice, and others who believe that the plan doesn’t do enough. In a letter to DC Water and the Sewer Authority last month, Earthjustice says that it “[urges] DC Water to revise its proposal significantly to include green infrastructure performance criteria,” and also attacks the proposal to place a $90 million spending cap on green infrastructure. “This approach does not meet the terms for modification of the consent decree, and flouts EPA guidance,” the letter says.