Congressional leaders and Maryland regulators continue to pressure the Trump administration for information about the ongoing jet fuel leak at Joint Base Andrews. Both want immediate action that will stop the contamination that continues to threaten Piscataway Creek and nearby communities more than seven months after the incident was reported.
The latest calls follow recent Inside Climate News reporting showing that water testing across several locations on and around the base detected that “diesel-range” hydrocarbons, a category that includes jet fuel, were still entering Piscataway Creek despite assurances from the base that it halted the leak. The reporting also found that the base had not pinpointed the source of the leak, frustrating regulators and hampering cleanup efforts.
Approximately 32,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked across multiple dates and locations earlier this year, according to a letter lawmakers sent Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink in May. Of that amount, about 10,000 gallons were reportedly contained, while an estimated 22,000 gallons entered the environment, contaminating soil and Piscataway Creek.
The creek connects the base, located in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to the Potomac River near Fort Washington Park. Nearby Piscataway Park provides public access to the creek and river for fishing and recreation.
The Maryland Department of the Environment, which has enforcement authority under state environmental regulations, said it was not notified of the leak until March 23, when fuel odors and a sheen were observed near the creek’s headwaters, and the base did not report the full extent of the discharge until April 8.
The MDE then ordered the base to conduct an emergency soil investigation, install monitoring wells and remediate contaminated soil. The base’s delay in reporting the spill, despite its obligation to do so, prompted concerns and criticism from lawmakers and environmental advocates.
In their latest letter to Meink, sent Oct. 28, members of the Maryland congressional delegation criticized the cleanup efforts, saying “the Air Force has failed to fully contain the fuel spill” as demonstrated by the MDE’s water testing, calling it “unacceptable.”
“The Air Force must take immediate action to completely contain the spill and stop all sources of continued fuel discharge into the environment,” the lawmakers said, urging swift action to remediate contaminated soil and groundwater.
The letter was signed by nine of the delegation’s 10 members: U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, Glenn Ivey, Sarah Elfreth, April McClain Delaney and Johnny Olszewski, all Democrats. It warned that the spill threatened the health and well-being of people living along and recreating on Piscataway Creek.
The letter called the cleanup delay “especially concerning,” noting that the spill adds to pre-existing contamination in Piscataway Creek from other base activities, including legacy PFAS runoff. “Piscataway Creek is also part of a landscape that is sacred to the Piscataway people, and the waterway runs by important cultural and historic sites,” the letter said.
The lawmakers asked Meink to respond by Nov.12 with a plan for how Joint Base Andrews would stop further contamination of Piscataway Creek, address evidence of fuel escaping temporary containment berms and account for the estimated 22,000 gallons potentially released into the environment. They also sought a timeline for full cleanup, an update on the subsurface investigation and assurances that future leaks would be addressed promptly.
Responding to the questions about the legislators’ concerns over cleanup failures and the ongoing spill, a Joint Base Andrews spokesperson said heavy rain can carry “trace amounts” of previously spilled fuel from contaminated soil into Piscataway Creek. “This is not an active release from the fuel infrastructure,” the base maintained.
In written comments, the spokesperson said that containment, recovery and monitoring was continuing, with pressure testing expected to begin in the next few weeks and an updated subsurface investigation plan submitted to MDE. But the spokesperson provided no firm cleanup completion date, and added: “There is not yet a fixed completion date for all remediation measures.”
In separately emailed comments, an Air Force spokesperson said: “Our top priority is resolution and mitigation of the effects of this leak.” Responding to the lawmakers’ Nov. 12 deadline, the spokesperson said, “The Air Force will respond directly to Sen. Van Hollen’s office.”
In a May 6 letter to Meink, Congressional leaders raised concerns about the delayed disclosure of the spill’s full volume and inadequate initial containment measures. They asked for a briefing and written answers on the extent of contamination, cleanup plans and measures to prevent future leaks and keep regulators and the public informed.
Subsequently, the Air Force arranged a staff-level briefing for Van Hollen’s office in late September. But Congressional sources told Inside Climate News at the time that the senator was not satisfied with the responses the Air Force provided and his office will be requesting more information in the coming weeks.
The lawmakers are not alone in pressing the Trump administration for answers and demanding robust cleanup actions.
Also on Oct. 28, MDE Secretary Serena McIlwain upped the pressure by conveying her own concerns to JBA leadership.
It was troubling, she wrote, that despite seven months of back and forth between her staff and the base, “the source of the releases and the actions necessary to prevent further contamination remain unanswered.”
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Expressing frustration that “the pace of that progress has not matched the urgency of the situation”—a concern shared by state regulators and lawmakers— McIlwain’s letter pressed for the need to identify the source of the fuel leak and establish a clear schedule for repairing or abandoning the failing pipes.
The letter noted that the state of the fueling system itself was also concerning. “[MDE] staff identified missed corrosion protection testing requirements and inventory records showing fuel losses that require investigation under Maryland regulations,” the secretary wrote, adding that her agency was not notified as required. “These issues raise broader concerns about the integrity of the fueling infrastructure and the adequacy of the systems intended to detect and prevent future releases.”
The letter directed the base to complete pressure testing by Nov. 12, 2026, finish a supplemental contamination investigation, correct fuel inventory records, complete corrosion protection testing and submit a revised cleanup schedule by Nov. 27. JBA, the home base for Air Force One and point of departure for most national and foreign presidential travel, is also directed to complete corrosion protection repairs and update its assessment of contamination sources and pathways by Dec. 27.
“These deadlines are important, and I expect them to be taken seriously,” McIlwain wrote.
In an emailed statement to Inside Climate News, the MDE further said: “We remain deeply concerned about the ongoing environmental impacts and continue to observe signs of jet fuel coming from the site, with fuel continuing to flush into Piscataway Creek, particularly after heavy rain events.”
The agency said that the source locations and causes of the December 2025 and March 2026 releases, roughly totaling 22,000 gallons, have not been determined.
“Until those questions are resolved and the problem is fixed, we cannot verify that the releases have ceased or that additional fuel is not entering the environment,” the MDE said, adding that it “remains committed to working with base leadership to address this contamination.”
In further comments, a JBA representative said it “concurs that there is ongoing jet fuel flushing into the creek” and that “while we have confirmed the suspected leak area is isolated, we have not determined the exact point of the leak.”
Van Hollen, in a separate statement, pledged to keep pressing the Trump administration.
“After more than seven months, the Air Force has failed to fully contain the fuel spill at Joint Base Andrews. Marylanders deserve answers, and local communities on Piscataway Creek must be protected,” Van Hollen said. “I will continue to push the Trump Administration to take immediate action to fully contain the spill, stop all sources of fuel discharge into the environment, and provide long-overdue transparency into this matter.”
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Aman Azhar is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist who covers environmental justice for Inside Climate News with focus on Baltimore-Maryland area. He has previously worked as a broadcast journalist and multimedia producer for the BBC World Service, VOA News and other international news organizations, reporting from London, Islamabad, the United Arab Emirates and New York. He holds a graduate degree in Anthropology of Media from University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and an MA in Political Science from the University of the Punjab, and is the recipient of the Chevening scholarship from the UK government and an academic scholarship for graduate studies from the Australian government.
