Troutdale holds public hearing on tighter grease-control rules; second reading set for April 14

Troutdale city staff presented a proposed revision to Chapter 12.07 of the Troutdale Municipal Code on Feb. 24, saying the changes would give clearer requirements and enforcement steps to reduce fats, oils and grease (FOG) that staff link to ‘‘nocardia’’ foam appearing in the collection system and wastewater plant. The council held a public hearing on the ordinance introduction and did not vote; it scheduled the ordinance's second reading for April 14, 2026, and directed staff to notify affected restaurants and return with cost information.

Ryan Largura, city staff presenting the proposal, showed photographs from recent camera work and plant inspections and said the foam has intensified over the past 12 to 18 months and can cause odor problems, reduce sludge settling and create sanitary overflows that risk violating the city's NPDES discharge permit. "It's been causing odor issues. It's been causing some overflow at our basin walls in the aeration basin," Largura said while describing the plant impacts. He told the council the draft code would clarify reporting, minimum maintenance frequencies and the city's enforcement steps so restaurants know what is expected and the city can demonstrate regulatory compliance.

Erica Aspenson, the wastewater treatment plant chief operator, described steps staff have taken at the plant and the collection system, including lab tests that showed nocardia made up a substantial portion of the sample. "They pointed to nocardia being, like, 30% of the bugs in a volume of sample," Aspenson said, and she explained that dissolved grease is harder to remove and can help the foam persist in the aeration basin.

The draft ordinance would require routine reporting of pump-outs and interceptor maintenance using an online platform (FogBMP) that staff said is free for restaurants to use and allows photo evidence and pump-out frequency records to be stored centrally. The draft includes baseline maintenance guidance (staff discussed a 90-day pump-out interval as a common baseline in the posted edits) and clarifies what steps the city may take when a user is out of compliance. Staff emphasized education and cooperative compliance as first steps and said enforcement (including cost recovery for cleanup work and, as a last resort, water-service termination) would follow existing code and appeal processes.

Multiple councilors pressed staff for two items before a second reading: (1) direct notification to local restaurants so owners understand the proposed changes and can comment or prepare, and (2) an estimate of likely costs a business might face for upgraded interceptors, frequent pump-outs or for city cleanup work if enforcement cost recovery were applied. Several restaurant owners who spoke during the hearing said they already perform regular maintenance and asked that the city accept photo-based proof and provide a clear appeal pathway for fines or cost assessments.

City staff provided operational details in response: the utilities crew said sewer mains are cleaned about every other year and ————troubled— areas are cleaned more frequently (roughly twice per year), and that line cleaning runs roughly a month and a half annually with a two-person crew per truck. Staff also estimated additional chemical or treatment products purchased to control foam can be expensive (Aspenson noted products "like $300 a bucket" in current trials).

The council closed the public hearing and, by consensus, deferred action on the ordinance until the council's April 14 meeting to allow staff to notify affected businesses and gather the cost and inspection data requested. Staff were directed to return with the requested cost information and with a notice plan for restaurants in advance of the next hearing.

Next steps: staff will notify restaurant owners about the April 14 consideration, collect cost estimates for likely equipment, pump-out and potential city cleanup actions, and provide those figures to the council prior to the second reading.