Marina owners in Woodbridge are refusing to post Virginia Department of Health warning signs tied to a massive sewage spill upstream and instead launched their own independent water testing in the lower Potomac River.
Key Takeaways
Date: February 20, 2026
Location: Woodbridge, Prince William County, Va.
- Woodbridge marina operators declined to post Virginia Department of Health recreational advisory signs on private docks.
- Operators coordinated independent water sampling at five sites in Prince William and Stafford counties.
- Business owners say no public data shows contamination has reached the lower Potomac River near their marinas.
- The advisory follows a January sewage spill from DC Water’s Potomac Interceptor sewer line.
Full Coverage
Marina operators in Woodbridge say they will not post Virginia Department of Health (VDH) warning signs on their private docks, arguing state officials have not provided testing data showing contamination in the lower Potomac River near their facilities in Prince William County.
Terry Hill, owner of Hampton Landing Marina and Potomac Marine towing and salvage, and Dick Lynn of Occoquan Harbor Marina coordinated independent sampling on Friday through the Potomac River Rescue Association (PRRA). The group represents response agencies and marinas from Washington, D.C., to the Route 301 Bridge near Dahlgren.
Samples were collected at five locations: Quantico, Dumfries, Occoquan, Mason Neck State Park, and Gunston Cove. The water is being analyzed by a laboratory in Winchester, with results expected by Monday.
“We took samples today to have a lab in Winchester process,” Hill said. “There’s no testing that I can see below National Harbor… We need testing.”
The PRRA represents eight marinas clustered in the Woodbridge area, a regional hub for boat sales, service, rentals, and kayaking. Operators say they will consider posting their own temporary notices if independent results show a short-term health risk, but they are rejecting the official VDH signage.
The bilingual VDH signs warn against swimming and contact with the water due to potential contamination and advise washing exposed skin with warm, soapy water. The Prince William Health Department requested that the signs be placed on private marina property.
Hill described the signage as “total hysteria.”
“We won’t put them up in our marinas. No way… If we find out that there’s some contamination, we could put out something to our customers,” he said.
Lynn said marina operators would support restrictions if testing showed a confirmed health threat.
“We would be 100% in favor of restricting the river if somebody is going to be in a health situation, but we don’t see it,” Lynn said.
The dispute follows the January 19 collapse of a 72-inch section of DC Water’s Potomac Interceptor sewer line near Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Maryland. The pipe carries wastewater from Maryland and Virginia to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C.
DC Water estimates between 243 million and 300 million gallons of untreated sewage entered the Potomac River before a temporary bypass system was activated on January 24. Additional overflows occurred in early February. The utility reports no sewage has entered the river since February 8–9.
Emergency repairs are expected to take four to six weeks, with completion targeted for mid-March. A permanent repair could take months.
On February 13, VDH issued a 72.5-mile recreational advisory for Virginia shoreline access points along the Potomac River, citing the repair timeline and potential for additional releases.
According to DC Water, daily E. coli testing has been conducted at six locations since January 29, with the furthest downstream site at National Harbor in Maryland. Reported results have remained below Virginia’s recreational water quality standard of 410 most probable number (MPN) per 100 milliliters.
VDH reported February 17 shellfish sampling results from 36 sites between Colonial Beach and the Route 301 Bridge showed no elevated fecal coliform levels. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) also collected 25 bacteria samples on February 17 along a 54-mile stretch from the American Legion Bridge to the mouth of Potomac Creek in Stafford County. Those results are pending and will be posted online once available.
Potomac Local News has requested specific sampling locations and raw data from VDH, DC Water, and DEQ for areas south of National Harbor. Agencies have provided some information, but detailed coordinates and data on the lower-river marina area have not been publicly released.
Prince William Health Department and Maryland authorities have not responded to questions about additional downstream testing or the rationale for requesting signage on private docks.
Marina operators say the advisory is already affecting Woodbridge businesses.
“We’re going to lose boat sales… People aren’t going to bring their boat here. They’re going to sell their boats,” Hill said, adding that some customers are trailering boats to other locations, including Annapolis.
Marinas are also contacting the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, George Mason University, and local elected officials seeking baseline monitoring between Alexandria and Stafford County.
Potomac Local News will update this story as independent PRRA test results, DEQ findings, and additional agency responses become available.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Potomac Local News editors for accuracy and clarity.
