A pipe carrying raw sewage spilled an estimated 3,000 gallons into the Willamette River in downtown Portland Tuesday.

The city’s Bureau of Environmental Services said crews discovered the spill around 10:30 a.m. Sewage flowed into the river at the Eastside Esplanade north of the Morrison Bridge.

Crews halt the spill by 2:30 p.m. by making a temporary repair on one of the city’s sewer lines.

To put 3,000 gallons in context: The city’s treatment plant takes in 70 million gallons of sewage a day.

Diane Dulken, a bureau spokeswoman, said the problem was a leaking underground pipe away from the river, at Southeast Second Avenue and Alder Street. Sewage made its way from there to a sewage outfall, a pipe designed to drain waste into the Willamette when heavy rains cause the system to overflow.

Dulken said the city is continuing to work on more permanent repairs to the pipe.

The bureau warned people to avoid contact with river water downstream of the area for the next 48 hours.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive