City field crews noticed water leaking from a pipe under the Columbia Slough Trail footbridge into the Columbia Slough yesterday afternoon. City maintenance crews determined this morning that the leaking pipe was the 30-inch Inverness Force Main, a pressure sewer that carries wastewater pumped from east Portland.

The pipe was leaking intermittently each time the Inverness pump station was activated. The city took the 30-inch line out of service to stop the leak and is planning a repair project.

Maintenance crews posted sewage spill warning signs near the location of the spill. The Columbia Slough Trail footbridge crosses the slough just east of N Portland Road on the north side of the city’s Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant.

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The public should avoid contact with the slough in that area for the next 48 hours because of increased bacteria in the water.

For more information contact Linc Mann, 503-823-5328.

The Bureau of Environmental Services works with Portland residents and businesses to protect water quality, public health, and the environment through wastewater collection and treatment, sewer construction and maintenance, stormwater management, and stream and watershed restoration.

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