Sewage discharged into Yamhill River

Approximately 50,000 gallons of partially treated sewage was discharged into the South Yamhill River Monday due to a control system failure at the McMinnville Water Reclamation Facility.

At approximately 7 a.m. influent gates for the facility lost signal from the main controller, allowing flow to bypass the secondary treatment process and “go straight to UV disinfection before discharging to the South Yamhill River,” according to a release from city Public Works.

The gates were manually opened at 7:40 a.m., stopping the flow.

“This resulted in approximately 50,000 gallons of partially treated sewage discharging to the South Yamhill River at river mile 0.3,” the release states.

Warning signs about the release were posted at area parks, according to city staff.

For more information regarding the city’s sewer system or the discharge, contact Wastewater Services at (503) 434-7313.