Heavy Portland rainfall causes sewage overflow into Willamette River

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Heavy rains have caused sewage overflow in the Willamette River, according to the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services. (Stuart Tomlinson/The Oregonian)

Heavy weekend rains have caused a sewage overflow into the Willamette River, according to the city.

The rainfall produced a combined sewer overflow warning from the Bureau of Environmental Services.

Residents should avoid contact with the water until the advisory is lifted, city officials said. The affected area is from the Sellwood Bridge until the Willamette and Columbia rivers meet at Kelley Point Park.

People should avoid recreational activities in the river such as jet skiing or swimming because water could be swallowed, said Linc Mann, a bureau spokesman, in a news release. People fishing within 48 hours of a sewage overflow should wash their hands after having contact with the water and should cook fish thoroughly to kill bacteria.

In 2011, the bureau finished the $1.4 billion Big Pipe project to reduce such events. Before its completion, Portland averaged 50 sewer overflows into the Willamette River each year.

The sewage overflow is the second one this year and 12th since the Big Pipe project was completed, Mann said.

More information is available on the city's website.

-- Rebecca Woolington

503-294-4049; @rwoolington 

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