Equipment Failure Causes Oregon Sewer Spill
MONMOUTH, Ore. (AP) – Officials say about 1.3 million gallons of partially treated sewage went into the Willamette River after an equipment failure at the city of Monmouth’s waste water treatment facility.
The Statesman Journal reports that the city of about 10,000 people located near Salem waited five days to notify the public. The sewage spill began March 16 and ended the next day.
City’s wastewater operations manager Mark Landau says water samples at two locations downstream of the sewer outfall shows E. coli levels below the amount allowed by the city’s permit.
Landau said the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality asked the city to wait to tell the public until E. coli bacteria tests results came back. He says tests results came back late Tuesday. He wasn’t sure why the information wasn’t released until Thursday.
State officials say Monmouth should have notified the public March 18 without waiting for the state to tell them.
Related News
From Archive
- OSHA issues 16 citations following fatal sewer confined space incident
- 27 pipeline safety violations tied to deadly Pa. chocolate factory explosion
- Contractor gas line strike triggers home explosion in Missouri
- LA recovery reports call for $650 million power line burial, major utility upgrades in Pacific Palisades
- Comprehensive microtrenching FAQ: Key insights on the Vermeer MTR516 microtrencher
- T-Mobile to expand fiber broadband infrastructure footprint with $4.9 billion Metronet acquisition
- First tunnel boring machines complete testing for Hudson Tunnel Project
- NWPX grows water infrastructure portfolio with Colorado precast facility
- Cityside launches $100 million fiber build in Corona, Calif.
- FiberLight to build 1,400-mile West Texas dark fiber network in $350 million expansion

Comments