--- title: "The Military Base Home to Air Force One Leaked 32,000 Gallons of Jet Fuel Into the Potomac River Over the Last Few Months" description: "An investigation shows military officials have known about a massive fuel leak for months, but only recently disclosed it." date: "2026-05-10" modified: "2026-05-10" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/potomac-fuel-spill-military" categories: - "Environment" - "Military" - "Pollution" - "Science & Energy" --- # The Military Base Home to Air Force One Leaked 32,000 Gallons of Jet Fuel Into the Potomac River Over the Last Few Months ![A stylized image of Donald Trump descending the stairs of Air Force One, the presidential aircraft of the United States. The aircraft is prominently marked with the Seal of the President of the United States. The image uses a high-contrast color scheme with bright orange and yellow tones.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images* With nearly one-fifth of the world's oil under lock and key thanks to Donald Trump's ill-fated war on Iran, oil derivatives like jet fuel are at a premium. That makes it all the more devastating that the US Air Force leaked some 32,000 gallons of the stuff into the Potomac river over the course of just four months. According to bombshell [reporting by *NOTUS*](), Maryland's Joint Base Andrews, the facility that stores and maintains Air Force One, has lost tens of thousands of gallons of valuable jet fuel over two separate leaks. That would be bad enough on its own, but Joint Base Andrews is situated directly on Piscataway Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. The timeline established by *NOTUS* is a little convoluted, but basically this could've all been prevented as early as December, when the base's fuel system failed a critical leak safety test. Across the first two months of the year, base personnel noted the loss of roughly 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, though they believed at the time that the leak was contained to the base itself, and had not impacted the surrounding environment. On March 23, however, an observer reported what appeared to be oil floating in the Piscataway, forcing the Department of Defense to make an incredibly embarrassing call to the state of Maryland. Yet according to *NOTUS*, military officials failed to disclose how much fuel had actually spilled into the state's waterways during that initial call. It took a further two weeks for the DoD to bring state officials up to speed on the full impact of the leak, prompting outrage from environmental regulators. "There's an equation with a lot of blank spaces that have to be filled in," deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment Adam Ortiz told *NOTUS*. "That's why the rules are what they are. People are supposed to report immediately." While it remains to be seen how much of that fuel ended up in the Potomac, the [environmental consequences]() are surely catastrophic. For Maryland officials, the extent of the coverup so far makes it all the more urgent to get to the bottom of things. If the DoD can lie about two separate fuel spills for months, there's no telling what else has yet to come to light. "Efforts to properly control, contain, and clean up the release of fuel have been minimal and insufficient," Maryland’s inspectors wrote in an April 15 report, viewed by *NOTUS*. "Deadlines are now considered past due." **More on environmental damages:** *[Trump's US Forest Service Spraying Deadly Toxins on America’s Woodlands]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()