City of Coos Bay release – The pump station at 400 Kruse Avenue is currently undergoing an upgrade. The city has contracted with Pacific Excavation for this project. On September 21, 2023 the City published a public service announcement regarding the sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) at this pump station. The SSO occurred sometime during the night of September 19th and was corrected by the contractor the morning of September 20th. The SSO was a result of a failure in the contractor’s bypass pumping system. The contractor informed the City that approximately 118 gallons had spilled. The City reported this to the Oregon Emergency Response System and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). When an SSO occurs, the city is required to do additional reporting for DEQ. The reporting requires detailed information about the SSO event. While completing this reporting it was determined the original 118 gallons reported was underestimated. While it cannot be determined for certain since the event occurred sometime during the night of September 19th, the City believes that up to 3,400 gallons of sewer could have reached Coal Bank Slough. The City wants to stress that it is unknown when the event started to occur and for how long, but because this event has the potential to affect water quality, the City is reporting the conservative number. Any questions can be directed to the City of Coos Bay Public Works Department at 541-269-8918.
