Residents of the Northeast Alderwood Road area are advised to avoid the Columbia Slough after a pressurized sewer pipe at a Northeast Portland pump station ruptured this afternoon, causing sewage to overflow into the slough.

The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services said in a news release that the break, which was discovered around noon Tuesday, caused about 10,500 gallons of sewage to flow into a storm drain at the pump station. That storm drain leads to the slough. The bureau advised members of the public to avoid the slough around Alderwood Road for at least 48 hours due to increased bacteria in the water.

Crews are working on repairing the pipe, and the cause of the rupture is being investigated.