Heavy Rains Sent Hundreds Of Gallons Of Sewage Into Willamette

PORTLAND, OR — Hundreds of gallons of stormwater and sewage flowed into the Willamette River Saturday night, officials from Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services said Tuesday.

The spill involved 344 gallons of what the bureau called a "combined sewer overflow" and contained enough sewage that people were warned to stay out of the Willamette River for 48 hours.

The overflow lasted two minutes, officials said.

The overflow contained about 80 percent stormwater and 20 percent sewage, officials said. Contact with the sewage can cause illness, which is why people and animals are urged to avoid the river for 48 hours after an overflow, according to officials.

The silver lining is that the the overflow did not spill from Portland's "Big Pipe," which cost $1,4 billion to build and opened in 2011 after 20 years of planning and construction, officials said.

Since it opened, the number of combined overflows into the Willamette River have dropped 94 percent, and the number into Columbia Slough have fallen 99 percent, according to officials.

There are now only around three overflows into the Willamette River each winter and around one every three summers, the Bureau of Environmental Services said.