DEQ fines Portland for discharging sewage
Maria Thi Mai
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) notified the City of Portland today that it will assess nearly $449,800 in civil penalties against the City for 67 sewer system discharges into the Willamette River and 4 of its tributaries over the last 5 years.
“These unplanned spills of raw sewage into the river are unacceptable but sometimes they are unavoidable,” said Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams, who is in charge of the City’s Bureau of Environmental Services.
The Bureau of Environmental Services immediately reports discharges from the City sewer system to the DEQ and the City has reported each of the violations cited to the DEQ.
“The City works diligently to prevent any pollutant discharge into local waterways,” said Dean Marriott, Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services. “But, occasionally debris or roots block pipes and cause sewage to back up and to overflow from manholes.”
“I do not use the fact we have an aging sewer system, with a backlog of needed maintenance, as an excuse to spill raw sewage into the river, but it is part of the challenge we face,” said Adams.
Aging infrastructure recently caused bricks that formed the Woods sewer line to collapse and cause an overflow by clogging the pipe.
As part of the City’s ongoing overflow prevention program, crews check for debris in sewer pipes at a minimum of once a week. The City uses close circuit TVs to identify potential problems. They also treat the roots with a chemical foaming agent to eliminate root build up in the pipe. Environmental Services is responsible for maintaining more than 2,200 miles of sewer lines.
The City will review the enforcement actions listed in the DEQ notice and discuss a final settlement with the State over the next week. Portland ratepayers are currently spending $1.4 billion on a combined sewer overflow (CSO) abatement program to clean up the Willamette River.
The Department of Environmental Quality's Official Notice is listed below.
Posted by Maria Thi Mai on November 21, 2005
(2) Comments | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Filed Under Environmental Services, Front Page, Livability & Environment
Comments by site visitors
But getting clubbed while you are spending $1.4 Billion while DEQ rewrites its water requirements with grants from industrial polluters is a bit much. Portland deserves a break on this on.
Posted by: Lenny Anderson | Nov 22, 2005 10:53:59 AM
Post your comment
Please note: your email address, although required to post, will not be visible. We remove inappropriate or offensive content, and content deemed improper by State and City election and ethics law. The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of the office or the City of Portland.
While this fine is about a buck per person in the city, I have little or no control over the quality of service and present management can not do much about poor decisions that were made in the past. So in effect in my humble opinion, this boils down to me paying a small part of this fine, but the city losing money to provide services.
AS far as I am concerned the folks at DEQ need to fine better ways to get the job done. Managing to club someone who had little or nothing to do with the problem doesn't solve the problem.
M.W.
Posted by: Michael | Nov 22, 2005 10:12:13 AM