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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. Later she stated the bureau has about 48 miles of force mains currently not funded.
Uchiyama said BES manages a multibillion‑dollar asset base (she cited $25,000,000,000) and an estimated deferred‑replacement backlog of about $6.7 billion. The bureau’s inventory includes pump stations, nonprocess facilities and stormwater assets; Uchiyama warned that a portion of the assets in very poor condition represent some of the bureau’s highest‑consequence risks.
Uchiyama described regulatory drivers — Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and Safe Drinking Water Act requirements — and said those obligations, together with climate impacts, increase the cost of compliance and shape capital priorities. She cited the STEP program (Small‑scale Sewer Treatment/Equivalent Program) as a recent capital effort that met budget and schedule but consumed capital capacity and required the bureau to defer other work.
Workforce concerns were emphasized: Uchiyama said many experienced employees are nearing retirement, recruitment and retention are competitive with private industry, and training/knowledge transfer require “double fills” and dedicated resources. She urged sustained operating funding as well as capital and workforce investments to meet category‑4 seismic requirements for some facilities and to prevent costly emergency failures.
Ending: The committee heard requests for long‑term financial support, policy backing for funding mechanisms and workforce development strategies; members agreed to follow up in future sessions.
