Sanitary Sewage Release Advisory Update
(this is not a combined sewer overflow [CSO] advisory)

April 6, 2016

Work crews today successfully stopped sewage flowing from a broken pipe in a steep ravine near SW Carolina Street and SW 32nd Avenue. Field crews investigating sewer odors discovered the leak on Monday.

https://goo.gl/maps/j4ohu1Tiqsv

Because the area is too steep for machinery, maintenance crews worked by hand to expose the broken pipe and stop the leak. They made temporary repairs while engineers design permanent repairs.

Sewage from the broken pipe flowed into an unnamed tributary that joins Fanno Creek near SW 30th and Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway, about four blocks from the point of the sewage release. The public should avoid contact with Fanno Creek in that area through this Friday afternoon.

The City of Portland treats an average of 70 million gallons of wastewater each day. Over one-third of Portland’s more than 2,500 miles of sewer pipes are over 80 years old. Pipes that fail or become blocked with grease, tree roots and debris can cause sewage overflows. The sewage release in southwest Portland is not related to Portland’s combined sewer overflow control system.

For more information: Linc Mann, 503-823-5328, linc.mann@portlandoregon.gov

The Bureau of Environmental Services provides city residents with programs to protect water quality and public health, including wastewater collection and treatment, sewer construction and maintenance, stormwater management, and stream and watershed restoration.

-30-