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BES flags aging force mains, regulatory obligations and workforce succession as major risks
Summary
Bureau of Environmental Services leaders told the committee they face a multi‑billion deferred‑replacement backlog, unfunded force mains, seismic requirements for pump stations and workforce turnover that threaten operations and regulatory compliance.
Bureau of Environmental Services Director Dawn Uchiyama told the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that aging wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, regulatory obligations and an eroding workforce are the bureau’s principal risks.
“We have pressurized water coming through a 13‑mile pipe … If this pipe fails, we would have 11,000 acres of sanitary waste from Northeast Portland entering into the Columbia Slough,” Uchiyama said when describing the Inverness force main and related assets.…
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