Powell Sewer Repair Project Construction Update: October 18, 2017

Environmental Services is continuing construction on the Powell Sewer Repair Project in your neighborhood. This project will replace and repair aging public sewer pipe ranging from 60 to 104 years old. Repairing and replacing aging sewer pipes protects water quality, public health and the environment.

CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE

The map posted at www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/powell show the anticipated construction schedule and a look ahead schedule through November 3, 2017. Areas on the map marked in gray are currently not on the schedule or are not completed. Construction schedules are subject to change due to underground conditions, weather, traffic impacts, subcontractor schedules and availability of materials.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

With questions or comments, please contact Matt Goughor 503-823-5352.

Thank you,

Matt Gough

Community Outreach and Information

City of Portland Environmental Services

1120 SW 5th Ave, Room 1000

Portland, Oregon 97204

Working for clean rivers

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. Learn more at www.portlandoregon.gov/bes.

The City of Portland complies with all non-discrimination laws including Title VI (Civil Rights) and Title II (ADA). To request a translation, accommodation or additional information, please call 503-823-7740, or use City TTY 503-823-6868, or Oregon Relay Service: 711

CSO ADVISORY: 14-MINUTE COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOW OCCURS TO WILLAMETTE RIVER FROM SE ALDER PUMP STATION SLATED FOR UPGRADES

News Release from Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
Posted on FlashAlert: October 19th, 2017 8:32 PM

(October 19, 2017) -- A combined sewer overflow (CSO) occurred this evening from a single location - the SE Alder Pump Station that is slated to be taken offline later this month to improve and expand its capacity.

Triggered by heavy rains, the CSO began at 7:32 p.m. and ended 14 minutes later, discharging about 23,000 gallons of stormwater mixed with sewage to the Willamette River. The SE Alder Street Pump Station is located at SE Alder Street and Water Avenue. https://goo.gl/maps/kmdmYw57pD22.

CSOs are rare, but when they occur the public is advised to avoid contact with the river for about 48 hours due to increased bacteria in the water. In this case, the public is advised to avoid contact with the Willamette River from the Morrison Bridge to the Columbia River confluence until this advisory is lifted. Areas upstream are not subject to this advisory.

A CSO is about 80 percent stormwater and 20 percent sewage. The pump station, built in 1952, is scheduled to be taken offline later this month for two years of construction. The upgrades will improve reliability and increase pumping capacity to prevent sewage releases into buildings and streets as well as overflows to the river. The pump station also overflowed in September for four minutes. For more information on the project, please visit: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/72747.

Since completing the Big Pipe project in 2011, a 20-year $1.4 billion program to reduce overflows, the number of CSOs have been reduced by 94 percent to the Willamette River and 99 percent to the Columbia Slough. Before the project, CSOs occurred to the Willamette River from multiple outfalls an average of 50 times a year, with some instances lasting days.

For more information about CSO events, what they are and why they occur, visit https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/article/565061.

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. Visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bes and follow us on Twitter for news @besportland.

Contact Info:
Media contact: Diane Dulken 503.823.6724 diane.dulken@portlandoregon.gov

SEWAGE ADVISORY: CREWS WORKING TO REPAIR RUPTURED PIPE UNDER N LOMBARD OVERPASS, PUBLIC ADVISED TO AVOID COLUMBIA SLOUGH

News Release from Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
Posted on FlashAlert: October 18th, 2017 9:18 AM

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

(October 18, 2017) - City crews responded last night when a ruptured pipe released sewage onto a railroad track underneath the N Lombard Street overpass. The location is around the 12900 block of N Lombard Street. Traffic is not affected.

Sewage pooled along the tracks and an unknown quantity flowed down an embankment to the Columbia Slough. As a precaution, the public is advised to avoid contact with the slough due to increased bacteria in the water.

The release is ongoing and crews are on site working to contain the flow and repair a rupture in a pipe that carries sewage from the Lombard Pump Station to the city's Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant. As a further precaution, crews posted warning signs at the site, which is not easily accessible to the public.

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. This sewage release 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. Visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bes and follow us on Twitter for news @besportland.

Contact Info:
Diane Dulken 503.823.6724 diane.dulken@portlandoregon.gov