YACHATS – The beach at the mouth of the Yachats River re-opened to the public Saturday after tests results from a city sewage spill a week earlier showed the water was safe.
An estimated 62,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Yachats River after crews working on a pump station on the north side of the river Nov. 8 neglected to turn the pump back on when they were finished.
The beach was closed Saturday, Nov. 9. Since then public works crews conducted daily water tests at 10 locations for two pathogens — enterococcus and fecal coliform.
The tests showing low and safe numbers were taken Friday with results coming in Saturday, city manager Bobbi Price said in a news release Saturday morning.
“We have taken this incident very seriously and have implemented additional protocols to prevent occurrences in the future,” Price said in the statement. “The safety and well being of our residents and visitors are our top priorities. Thank you for your patience and understanding …”
The spill was brought to the city’s attention about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9 by residents in the Bayview Terrace neighborhood where the overflow occurred. The city and Oregon State Parks closed beach access to the mouth of the river that afternoon. As required, the city notified the Oregon Department of Quality of the spill.
Wastewater treatment plant supervisor Dave Buckwald said with the pump turned off, sewage from the south part of town including the Quiet Water subdivision backed up into a main along Bayview Terrace and then spilled into the river from storm drain laterals.
In addition to blocking state park beach access along Yachats Ocean Road, public works crews spread lime on the spill off Bayview Terrace.
Since then city crews took daily water samples for the two pathogens. Despite days of heavy rain and high surf, until Friday test results continued to fall outside safe parameters.
Buckwald said an interesting and possibly concerning result of tests revealed that levels of fecal coliform at a site 3½ miles upriver, far above any effect from the sewage spill, were often higher than levels in the estuary. It is not clear whether it is caused by leaking septic systems or animal waste, he said.
— Garret Jaros/YachatsNews
Just a wondering if the higher amounts of fecal matter upriver are due to the heavy rains causing runoff from farm animals, into the river. And wouldn’t this be normal for this time of year? Just curious