Overview
- A 30-inch sewer main collapsed around 6:30 a.m. Thursday, creating a sinkhole that caused a gas leak and prompted the evacuation and closure of Germantown Elementary School while the gas line was capped.
- WSSC is installing roughly 1,000 feet of 18-inch above‑ground piping to reroute flow, with pumping slated to start Friday before crews remove and replace the failed section.
- Washington Gas has relocated a gas main near the break, Verizon has moved two affected utility poles, and one block of Liberty Mill Road remains closed between Dawson Farm and Pepper Court.
- Officials say no wastewater escaped from the broken pipe and the county’s drinking water system remains unaffected.
- A broader project to rehab or replace about 1,700 feet of sewer and repair 18 manholes will now begin in April, as investigators examine the 1982 pipe for corrosion after a similar nearby failure in August 2024.