For immediate release
Transformer fire knocks power out to Wastewater Treatment Plants; sewage pump stations causing overflows
Public asked to avoid floodwaters; minimize water usage
Hillsboro, OR — December 17, 2006 —
Saturday night’s fire at PGE’s substation near SW 158th and SW Jenkins Road knocked power out to Clean Water Services’ Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Hillsboro West Wastewater Treatment Plant and 10 raw sewage pump stations in western Washington County around 7:25 p.m. Power was restored by 10:15 p.m., but officials suspect overflows may have occurred at low-lying manholes along Rock Creek near Tualatin Valley Highway. City of Hillsboro and Clean Water Services crews responding to the outage also confirmed an overflow near SE 28th Avenue and SE Camwal Drive in Hillsboro.
No overflows occurred from the Hillsboro West Facility or from any pump stations which switched over to on-site diesel generators following the power loss.
The public is asked to:
- Area residents are asked to avoid contact with flood waters.Raw sewage that may be overflowing is highly diluted by rainwater which helps reduce the public health risks, but bacteria are still present. If the public comes in contact with floodwaters, they should wash with soap and water.
- Minimize water usage for the next several days as the Rock Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility continues to work on pumping down extreme high flows resulting from Thursday’s heavy rain storm.
- Immediately report missing manhole lids or suspected sewage overflows to Clean Water Services at (503) 681-4450 or their city. The public should not try to replace the lids.
The substation fire caused Clean Water Services’ Rock Creek Facility to lose both its preferred power source and its alternative power source Saturday evening shutting down the entire facility and rendering it unable to pump flows coming into the plant. A similar power loss during Thursday’s storm, caused a large surge of water to back up in the system and may have blown manhole lids off sewer lines in low-lying areas.
The Rock Creek facility is pumping at a rate of 144 million gallons a day (mgd). Under dry weather circumstances, the facility pumps 25-30 mgd. Officials are continuing to investigate the cause of these extreme flows, but believe the missing manhole lids may now be drawing in large amounts of water from still-flooded streams.
The Rock Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility cleans wastewater for more than 220,000 residents of western Washington County and large areas of Bethany, Cedar Mill, Hillsboro, Beaverton and other areas in the Rock Creek watershed.
Clean Water Services is the sanitary sewer and surface water management utility for nearly 500,000 customers in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment plants, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility.
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