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

Correction: The original release said the sewage overflowed into a ditch. It is an unnamed creek.

(January 17, 2017) - Sewer maintenance crews responded this afternoon to reports of sewage flowing from a manhole on a vacant lot on SW Shattuck Road near SW Hamilton Street. Field crews estimated that 5,000 gallons of sewage overflowed onto the ground and into an unnamed creek.  The ditch leads to Fanno Creek at SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. 

Crews stopped the sewage flow at 3:40 p.m. 

https://goo.gl/maps/FXAvtMiVCFE2

Maintenance crews cleared a sewer line blockage to stop the sewage release, restored service, and posted warning signs in the areas accessible to the public.

As a precaution, the public is advised to avoid contact with Fanno Creek for at least 48 hours because of the possibility of increased bacteria in the water.

The City of Portland treats an average of 70 million gallons of wastewater each day. With the snow and ice melt, that volume is increasing. 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. 

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.

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Media contact: Diane Dulken at 503-823-6724, diane.dulken@portlandoregon.gov