[/media-credit] City workers spread lime over the spill area
April 28, 2016. Hood River. Over the past year, unsavory smells have been plaguing Tim Snyder, manager of Underground Music Station, located in the Union Building on Industrial Way. This building is downwind of the sewage treatment plant and below Full Sail and Tofurky, so interesting smells are not unusual. The more recent smell, however, has become intolerable at times.
On Wednesday April 27 as Mr. Snyder was leaving the building, he was hailed by a railroad employee down near the train tracks. According to Mr. Snyder, the worker said, “The building owner should report the broken sewer pipe.” He pointed to where the issue was: directly across the train tracks from Underground Music Station. The railroad worker also mentioned that he thought there was another break a little up the line.
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Mr. Snyder worried that this might be a health hazard to his students. Upon viewing the area, he found a pipe partly covered by blackberry bushes with “brown smelly water” draining out of it. It looked to him like it should be attached to the larger pipe instead of draining straight into the ditch, which was “two feet deep with brown water and a couple hundred yards long.” He called the Hood River Public Works after-hours emergency line. Within 15 minutes, city workers showed up on the scene.
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Mark Lago, Hood River Public Works Director, confirmed in an interview with Envirogorge, that there was a leak in the sewage pipe, although it was not clear how the sewage pipe was damaged or for how long it had been leaking. Lago stated that their crew responded promptly, repaired the leak, and applied lime to the spill area. Mr. Lago contacted the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and is working with them to monitor this spill and see if any additional work is needed.
Mr. Lago explained that because there is no access road to this elevated sewer line (which runs between the train tracks and highway 84) there is no way to remove the spill. Public Works staff covered the sewage with lime, and it will either eventually evaporate or go into the ground. Lago stated that next Wednesday he is proposing a budget to the city including development of an access road along this elevated sewer line for maintenance purposes.
[/media-credit] Pipe area after repairs
