Sanitary Sewer Overflow Update

February 23, 2015

City maintenance crews responded to a reported sewage release on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at Bridlemile Elementary School, 4300 SW 47th Avenue in Portland. Crews found sewage flowing from a manhole on the school grounds at 1:24 p.m. and cleared roots from a blocked sewer pipe to stop the release at 2:30 p.m.

From the time maintenance crews confirmed the release to the time they stopped it, an estimated 6,600 gallons of sewage overflowed from the manhole. Some of the sewage flowed into a catch basin on school property. The catch basin is connected to a pipe that drains to Fanno Creek. Crews applied lime to the area to kill bacteria and placed warning signs at the site as a precaution. Staff removed the warning signs two days later.

Environmental Services issued a news release on February 7 stating that all the sewage released had apparently soaked into the ground. City staff investigating the release were unaware of the nearby catch basin until notified two days later by the citizen who initially reported the sewage release. The catch basin is privately owned and doesn’t appear on city maps.

The original news release also reported that the estimated volume of the release from the time maintenance crews verified it until they stopped it was 5,600 gallons. Staff investigating the release later revised that estimate to 6,600 gallons.

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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