Water Environment Services Director Greg Geist sets record straight on incident stemming from power outage
Clackamas Water Environment Services (WES) leaders came before the Board of County Commissioners on Thursday, Feb. 18, to clear up exactly what caused the loss of power at the Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility and for partially untreated sewage to be discharged into the Willamette River.
WES leaders provided some answers for a conversation County Chair Tootie Smith had Wednesday, Feb. 17, with KXL radio personality Lars Larson, who suggested Smith advocate for firing certain leaders within WES over the incident.
Larson questioned why governmental employees aren t fired following screw ups like the events at the Tri-City plant on Sunday, Feb. 14, to which Smith blamed unions.
Five dead, thousands without power in Clackamas County February 16 2021
Deadly snow and ice storm leaves path of destruction in its wake; sewage treatment at 75% capacity
More than 72,000 Clackamas County residents are still without power as the county and Portland General Electric work to recover from one of the worst ice storms in 40 years.
According to Nancy Bush, county disaster management director, many residents in cities such as Canby and Molalla will be seeing their power restored today, but many more residents in rural areas have still yet to see the lights come back on.
Bush told county commissioners Tuesday, Feb. 16, that approximately 250,000 Clackamas County residents were without power at one point over the past three days more than a quarter of the county s total population.
Clackamas County officials said Sunday that a power outage at the Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility may lead to partially treated wastewater flowing into the Willamette River. The county saw widespread outages Saturday after severe winter weather swept through much of the region. County officials declared a state of emergency, and Governor Kate Brown later followed suit, issuing a declaration that covered nine counties in the Willamette.
Partially treated sewage likely discharged into Willamette River February 14 2021
A power outage at Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility in Oregon City led to the spill, officials say.
Clackamas County officials announced Sunday, Feb. 14, that widespread power outages crippling the region have likely led to partially treated wastewater spilling into the Willamette River.
The Tri-City Water Resource Recovery Facility in Oregon City has been operating on standby generator power during the storm. But with the prolonged outage, the facility is likely now discharging water that is out of compliance with the Clean Water Act, officials said Feb. 14.
People are urged to avoid contact with the water in the Willamette River downstream of the facility including through Portland for the next few days.