Treatment plant leaked raw sewage

Submitted by KATU.com Staff on Sun, 2009-11-22 15:09

Photos courtesy of KATU videographer Patty Norman.

The power was out from 11:19 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. at an Oregon City waste-water treatment plant. And that meant more than just darkness for the Tri-City Water Pollution Control Plant.

Instead of sending raw sewage to be treated, it piped the sewage directly into the Willamette River, according to Clackamas County officials.

Officials said about 3 million gallons of raw sewage had been dumped into the river by 2 p.m. Sunday. The sewage leak was capped when the power was restored just before 5:30 p.m.

The Tri-City Water Pollution Control Plant serves the cities of West Linn, Oregon City and Gladstone. Portland General Electric crews are working to restore power.

Officials at the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Emergency Response System are also involved. Signs have been posted in the area about the spill - though not before a fisherman was spotted dipping his line for fish Sunday afternoon.

This is not the first time in recent months that sewage has drained directly into the Willamette River. On Oct. 4, KATU reported that the Willamette was taking on sewage overflow after heavy rain storms.

The Willamette River runs through Oregon's Willamette Valley, forming in the mountains near Cottage Grove and Three Sisters and ending where it flows into the Columbia River at Portland. This makes the Willamette one of the only rivers in the world to flow consistently north.

Water authorities said that the leak will not impact the safety of municipal water supplies. The closest town taking water from the Willamette River is Wilsonville - about 10 miles upstream from the spill. (Read the statement from Multnomah County's Public Health Officer.)

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Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 15:41.

Lets go swimming!!!!

Submitted by DaveH (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 16:39.

I wonder if the outfall is above or below the falls. Is the sewage going through the navigation locks?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 18:49.

It's above the falls by about 1/2 mile.

Submitted by DaveH (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 16:37.

Something we seldom think about when we worry about our aging, decrepit and over loaded electrical grid and general infrastructure. The lights going out get the press, but we also manage the waste and pump the drinking water with it. Imagine what a big regional failure would do! All the treatment plants down, and only the 50 or so gallons in the water heater to use - except for the gravity customers below Mt Tabor, of course.

Submitted by Jeepers (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 16:39.

Good thing that whole "Keep Oregon green" Statment only applies too non goverment people.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 16:46.

So how much are we going to charge this sewage plant to clean up the mess they just made of our already contaminated river? Oh we aren't holding them accountable? I guess nothing is new.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 16:59.

Just another reason I'd never put my boat, let alone myself, into that river. Yum. I feel sorry for the poor birds and the morons that actual eat fish out of the river.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 17:46.

It is gross. The smell alone "in good times" is enough to keep me away. People eat fish from there????? Double Gross!!!!!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 18:38.

I heard the fish taste shitty.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 18:46.

HA HA HA!

Submitted by bodingus (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 20:04.

not to worry, by time gets to albany ,will blame smell on wah-chang !

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 18:01.

What kind of penalties are there for the city littering the river with raw sewage? If you urinate in public it's a criminal charge for offensive littering. The Tri-City Water Pollution Control Plant should be charged for this crime if not stiffer penalties. It is there fault that a contingency plan was not in place for the event that power was lost. They should be charged for their negligence as a result.

Submitted by Jeepers (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 21:46.

Do you have any idea how many tons of raw sewage portland dumps into that river every year?

Submitted by bodingus (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 10:59.

well, i dunno here ,but in china ,if this happened ,,who ever responsible to catch it before it reached such proportions would probably be executed,, they have something called the makarov plan ,over there ,,screw up and you get a pistol shot in back of head ,,by a makarov (military) pistol.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 18:02.

Wow! I thought the river looked cleaner than normal!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 18:03.

Holy shit!!!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 19:53.

Looks like another case of government doing what government does best, which is royally messing things up. To those who commented about charging them for the mistake or fines, remember where they actually get the money. I am sure they'll be happy to raise your taxes to pay for their mistake, maybe even hire a few more administrators to make sure it never happens again; until next time it happens again and they raise taxes/increase goverment size to make sure it never happens again.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 22:11.

Ever heard of a backup diesel generator.you might think that would be in place so this won't happen.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 22:43.

wash yer car on a hot summer day, and your a bad guy for all the oil you sending down the drainage system. dump three freakin million gallons of poo in the river, so long as yer the state, no prob its all good. dont worry bouts the e-coli. its the good kind. hahaha. how many morons buy this crap?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2009-11-22 23:31.

how coem you never hear about Washington Cities dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into our rivers?

Oregon needs to get on the ball and fix this...All of these cities should be fined just like private industry does when they dump pollution into our waterways

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 08:16.

Maybe because it is difficult for Washington towns to dump sewage into Oregon Rivers. Yes, I know....but downstream from Portland, nobody cares about the Columbia.

Submitted by Geoffrey Bard (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 06:23.

"...one of the only rivers..."

Isn't that like saying "I almost never..."?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 06:37.

"LEAKED?"

I would say 3 million gallons is a little bit more than a leak!

4.5 Olympic size swim pools. (660,000 gal)

Swimming anyone

Submitted by DownStream (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 08:01.

Hey portland how about keeping your crap in your own yard? Every time s**t flows from your town we end up with it.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2009-11-23 12:41.

There is obviously not a single wastewater treatment professional in all the commentators above. The fact is that sytems fail, human errors happen and this kind of event will occasionally occur. Just keep in mind the billions and trillions of gallons of your human excrement that is treated successfully across the nation every day and you may have a different perspective. The quality of your river environment is protected by these wastewater treatment systems every day, you just dont bother to understand it. As long as it goes away when you flush the toilet, that is all that matters to you. It is time to wake up and understand the world around you, instead of taking it for granted!(and complaining about the public servants who make it all happen)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-25 21:28.

ahhhhh,,, you must come to india ,,and bathe in the ganges,,you have not lived until you do so. it will reflesh you and give you outstanding in public. but if you are standing in the water ,perhaps up to your waste ,,and you see something long ,brown and round go floating by ,do not reach out for it ,and try to pick up,,It is not a fish!!!