PORTLAND (AP) — Portland city officials say an estimated 60,000 gallons of stormwater and sewage overflowed into the Willamette River following weekend heavy rains.
The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services characterized the estimate of the combined sewage overflow Saturday as preliminary. It defines a combined sewer overflow as about 80 percent storm water and 20 percent sewage.
The agency, in a release, said the number of such overflows to the Willamette River has dropped by 94 percent since the completion in 2011 of a $1.4 billion project aimed at reducing such incidents.
The agency said people should avoid contact with the river downstream and in other areas until late Monday due to increased bacteria in the water.
