Sanitary Sewage Release Advisory (this is NOT a Combined Sewer Overflow [CSO] Advisory)

(October 19, 2019) – City crews responding to a report of an odor discovered a sewage leak on an embankment near the NE 21st Avenue bridge that spans I-84. The report was made last night and crews stopped the leak today.

The area is fenced off and not readily accessible to the public.  There is a houseless camp nearby and warning signs were placed on the embankment at the location of the release and downhill to the railroad tracks that parallel Interstate 84.  While crews stopped the release, further repairs will be needed. The cause is a suspected broken pipe.

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. This sewage overflow is not related to the City of Portland's combined sewer overflow control system.  

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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.