YACHATS – The city of Yachats and Oregon State Parks closed beach access to the mouth of the Yachats River on Saturday afternoon after an estimated 62,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the river from along Bayview Terrace on the north side of the bay.
Crews had worked on a pump station on the north side of the river Friday and apparently did not turn on the pump when they were finished, said city manager Bobbi Price and wastewater plant supervisor David Buckwald. Yachats public work crews estimated it had been going on for up to 24 hours.
As required, the city notified the Oregon Department of Quality of the spill.
Buckwald said workers will take samples along the river three times a day until water quality standards are met. But twice-daily tides and a week-long rainstorm expected Monday should make the closure relatively short, he said.
“Dilution is the solution once you have the spill stopped,” Buckwald said.
He 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. Homeowners along Bayview Terrance notified the city about 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
City crews blocked off access to the state park access along Yachats Ocean Road and then spread lime on the spill off Bayview Terrace later Saturday afternoon.
This seems like a major oversight. And awful timing considering all the tourists in town.
We noticed flashing red lights all night long at the pump station. Is the public supposed to do something in that situation? Shouldn’t there be some kind of alert that goes to utility workers?