Related News
Related News
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The Big Freeze 2024: After Action Report
Winter 2024 was one for the records books, and we'll look back on it for years to come and say, "That was a doozy!" The back-to-back January Ice Storms caused widespread damage to EWEB’s service territory, affecting approximately 38,000 customers. Preliminary repair costs were over $8 million, and additional repairs to transmission lines are still required.
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Fixing the Unseen: Water Pipeline Replacement in Unincorporated Eugene
Learn more about EWEB's methods for monitoring and replacing aged water pipelines.
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New tanks come online as EWEB modernizes water system
New drinking water storage tanks are one of several investments to ensure that EWEB can meet critical community needs in the event of an earthquake.
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Spring Cleaning? How about Spring Emergency Preparedness!
Spring is officially here and that means the plants are blooming, the sun is (sometimes) shining, and the grass is green! We've had our fair share of severe weather already, but spring weather is notoriously unpredictable. While you're in the midst of spring cleaning and garden care, consider completing these emergency preparedness tasks.
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EWEB General Manager Delivers 2024 State of the Utility
General Manager Frank Lawson delivered his address at the March 5 public Board of Commissioners meeting
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State of the McKenzie Watershed
EWEB’s Drinking Water Source Protection (DWSP) team says the McKenzie River continues to be an excellent source for drinking water.
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Nine days without power: My ice storm story as an EWEB customer and employee
While beautiful and peaceful, buying a home on the edge of the forest and surrounded by trees has its tradeoffs. Moving “upriver,” I knew there would be more threats to prepare for, including Mother Nature’s seasonal surprises.
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Preparation and Resilience: How EWEB Maintained Water Service During Recent Ice Storm
Learn about the projects and people that helped EWEB keep water flowing throughout the extreme weather event.
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EWEB achieves power restoration milestone over the weekend
Crews have so far restored power for 92% of customers who originally lost power at the height of the ice storm.
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Reenergized McKenzie River Valley transmission lines allow EWEB crews to restore power upriver
On Friday, a majority of EWEB crews tackled power restoration efforts upriver, after federally managed transmission lines were reenergized Thursday.
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EWEB estimates one week to complete power system restoration
On Wednesday, EWEB crews restored power for about 10,000 customers by repairing large equipment first.
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Second round of ice and ensuing thaw prompt mass power outages
On Wednesday, all EWEB crews, who have been working nonstop since Saturday, traversed EWEB’s service territory assessing the damage and restoring transmission lines and main power feeders.
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Power restored at EWEB’s water treatment plant
Crews restored electric power at EWEB's Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant Monday evening, allowing operators to switch off the generators and rely again on the grid. Meanwhile, EWEB crews brace for additional outages amidst second round of ice and during the coming thaw.
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EWEB crews focusing on restoring electric service for Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant
With more ice forecasted for Tuesday, all EWEB crews are in the field assessing outages and restoring power.
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EWEB crews making downed lines safe and restoring power across Eugene and the foothills
As EWEB works to restore electric service to customers affected by the ice storm, the customer-owned utility is following established policies and its “hierarchy of repair” to prioritize repairs that restore electric service to the greatest number of customers.
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EWEB Leads "Spill Drill" to Practice HazMat Response on McKenzie River
October 20, 2021
EWEB led multiple first responder and emergency management organizations in a drill last week simulating an oil spill on the McKenzie River.
Participants of the McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System (MWERS) practiced containing a fictitious diesel spill using a boom system they deployed across the river at Hendrick's Bridge County Park.
Watch a video of the MWERS Team in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB3-9L1h4xg
EWEB and the McKenzie Fire & Rescue set up MWERS in the early 2000s to be able to minimize the spread of hazardous materials that could contaminate the McKenzie River after vehicle accidents on Highway 126 or other incidents. Once a spill is reported, the GIS-based MWERS program sends an alert to hundreds of responders with geographic information about the location of the spill and suggested containment strategies and locations to implement them.In the case of this simulation, the MWERS team prepared to contain thousands of gallons of diesel that hypothetically spilled at milepost 30 on Highway 126. The team deployed one of four hazardous response trailers that are staged throughout the watershed and would have five to six hours to set up the containment boom before the current would have carried the oil downstream to Hendrick's Bridge Park.
The team stretched the floating containment booms across the river with a rope system. The booms funnel the oil toward the bank, where a skimmer system picks up the oil to be dredged out of the river before it reaches the intake at the Hayden Bridge Drinking Water Treatment Facility.
Treatment Operators at Hayden Bridge also activated an Incident Command System (ICS) and shut down the treatment plant for several hours to practice running the facility during an oil spill. Distribution Operations used a table top exercise to discuss how they could accept the rapid increase of flow prior to the plume reaching Hayden Bridge and then isolate areas of distribution in preparation for curtailment after plant shutdown.
EWEB's Watershed Restoration Program Manager, Karl Morgenstern, said that the increased erosion and landslide risk from the area burned by the Holiday Farm Fire may cause more opportunities for vehicle accidents this winter.
He said the opportunities to practice help ensure that the response is safe, efficient, and effective when a real disaster strikes.
"What we learned from the Holiday Farm Fire, is the more you do this up front, the easier it is when there's a disaster or a spill. Because you know each other, you know your capabilities, and you can come together as a team and work together efficiently," Morgenstern said. "The more foundation you lay down the better our response is going to be to protect our drinking water."
To report a hazardous material spill, please call the Oregon Emergency Response System (OERS) at 1-800-452-0311. You can also call the Hayden Bridge Water Treatment Plant at 541-341-8500.