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A contractor repairs a sewer connection in Northeast Portland.

(Marv Bondarowicz/The Oregonian/file)

Portland is spending an estimated $1.25 million replacing sewer pipes on private property in the West Hills and may soon foot the bill for an additional $2.85 million for more upgrades.

Nearly 320 homeowners have agreed to participate in a pilot project that covers the full cost of replacing the pipe that connects a home to the city's sewer system. Another 1,500 homes sit in high-priority westside areas that could become eligible for free replacements in the future.

Typically such costs are the responsibility of homeowners – an obligation many eastside residents learned the hard way in 2012 when the city started charging $5,100 per house to fix old pipes that didn't meet current city code.

City officials say they hope the Southwest Portland project prevents rainwater from leaking into the sewer system through cracks in aging pipes, which during heavy rainstorms can cause raw sewage spills into Fanno Creek.

The Bureau of Environmental Services is also repairing or replacing larger main lines in Southwest Portland as part of a long-term project estimated to cost $42.7 million.

Bill Ryan, the sewer bureau’s chief engineer, said the city is doing the work for homeowners because simply improving sewer lines in public rights of way won’t do enough to limit sewage spills.

“You can take care of the public portion of the sewer and solve (only) a small portion of the problem,” Ryan said.

State demands a fix

Portland’s sewer system in the West Hills is particularly susceptible to overflow issues during wet weather.

A diagram of how water inflow and infiltration gets into the sewer system. In Southwest Portland, officials are concerned about infiltration -- not inflow.

With its hilly terrain of clay and silt, westside ground can become saturated by rain. Water infiltrates pipes through cracks.

In 2011, the state demanded a fix.

Three times in three months, raw sewage spilled from a manhole near Southwest Dewitt Street and 25th Avenue, in the Hillsdale area. Portland agreed to find a solution by December 2016 but, in the meantime, the city can continue sending sewage into Fanno Creek during storms.

Portland launched its pilot project hoping to make a dent in the problem.

The city offered to complete the work for free in order to encourage participation, Ryan said. More than 80 percent of targeted homeowners have agreed to participate.

Another 1,500 homes are in top priority areas because they contribute to overflows at Fanno Creek or are in neighborhoods with high levels of water infiltration.

If the city keeps offering free replacements at a price of about $2,200 each, total costs would be $4.1 million, the city estimates.

All ratepayers would foot those costs, which would run about 6 cents a month for the typical customer – or one-tenth of one percent of the average bill. Of that, the pilot project represents 2 cents a month for the average customer.

The city estimates that repairing and replacing pipes to prevent water infiltration should be cheaper than increasing capacity with larger pipes or building a separate stormwater system.

“The upshot here is that by getting all of that stormwater that infiltrates in, whenever it rains, out of the sewer system, that is saving ratepayers lots of money,” Ryan said.

Eastside residents upset

Not surprisingly, the program is drawing praise from residents in Southwest Portland who won’t have to pay. But some eastside residents – on the hook for similar but not identical work – are frustrated.

Dick Loughney, who lives at the bottom of a hill just off Dosch Road in Southwest Portland, has signed up for the sewer bureau’s pilot project.

The bureau is simply “fulfilling its obligations” to ratepayers who will ultimately cover the bill, Loughney said.

“I feel like I’ve been paying it forward,” he said. “I’m not deluding myself into thinking the city is paying for it.”

But Reuben Deumling, a resident of the Sunnyside neighborhood in Southeast Portland, called the westside program “egregious.”

In 2011, more than one hundred eastside residents received notice that they would be financially responsible for the entire cost of fixing sewer connections that violated code, some for pipes that were more than 100 years old.

These "nonconforming connections" included multiple homes sharing one pipe that feeds the sewer system, or private pipes running through other homeowners' properties. Officials estimated about 2,300 improper connections citywide, many in Portland's oldest eastside neighborhoods. The nonconforming sewer connections hinder redevelopment efforts.

The city never considered covering costs for fixing nonconforming sewers, Deumling said. He helped negotiate a compromise in 2012 where homeowners pay nearly $5,100 and the city covers the rest, typically about $8,000.

Regardless of whether sewers in Southwest Portland pose a health risk, Deumling said, the city should maintain a consistent policy.

“It doesn’t seem logical,” he said. “It seems like adding insult to injury.”

City defends program

Ryan said the logic is simple: Preventing sewage spills, and avoiding more costly projects, benefits the entire community. Replacing nonconforming sewer connections benefits only the homeowner or future buyers.

“It goes back to who benefits,” Ryan said.

Officials expect to track results from the pilot project this winter before making recommendations about whether to keep paying for private replacements.

Other options: an insurance fee charged to ratepayers, with proceeds covering a wide-range of issues beyond infiltration; cost-sharing between the city and homeowner; or requiring homeowners to pay, perhaps by mandating sewer-line inspections and replacement, if necessary, when a property is sold.

Officials also could require homeowners to disconnect foundation or gutter drains, although that option is considered a last resort for fear that diverted water could cause landslides.

“We’re going to make the best decisions we can based on the data we get from the pilot,” said Jim Blackwood, a policy director for Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the sewer bureau.

-- Brad Schmidt and Melissa Binder