Massive sewage spill contaminates Willamette River with 500K gallons

A malfunction at a Lake Oswego water treatment facility caused 500,000 gallons of non-disinfected wastewater to flow into the Willamette River near Foothills Park. The public is advised to avoid the river in the area for two days due to the possibility of increased bacteria in the water. The wastewater had undergone most stages of treatment except for the final step of adding disinfectant, which failed and was repaired at 5:30 a.m. The City of Portland is working with Lake Oswego to replace the aging wastewater plant.