
Electric Outage: 1-844-484-2300
Water Emergency: 541-685-7595
EWEB Main: 541-685-7000
Using fireworks near power lines could lead to a fire, explosion, power outage or downed line.
Find Out MoreEWEB will continue the annual closure of our College Hill Reservoir over the Fourth of July holiday and prohibit fireworks on the property grounds.
Find Out MoreOn June 18, with the help of community neighbors, EWEB inaugurated a new emergency water station at the Lane County Fairgrounds.
Find Out MoreThe tour focused on the coordinated response to the Holiday Farm Fire, emphasizing the effectiveness of large-scale floodplain enhancement projects for mitigating the impacts of sedimentation and increasing water temperatures.
Find Out MoreEWEB exceeded drinking water safety standards in 2021 for every type of contaminant regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Health Authority. The utility has never failed to meet the standards.
Find Out MoreAs a public utility, it is important EWEB check in with customers to see how we are performing. We invite you to share your feedback and opinions.
Find Out MoreAs a public utility, owned by the people of Eugene, it’s important for us to be open and transparent with our customer-owners. The following State of the Utility Address, delivered by General Manager Frank Lawson at the March 1 EWEB Board meeting, highlights key events, accomplishments and challenges of 2021.
Find Out MoreEugene’s drinking water received an outstanding performance rating from the Oregon Health Authority.
Find Out MoreStarting late night Sunday night, an intense windstorm blew over trees and caused just over 2,600 Eugene Water & Electric Board customers to lose power. But EWEB line crews working through the dark hours of the night and early morning promptly restored service for nearly all those customers.
Find Out MoreTwo Eugene Water & Electric Board line crews will spend the New Year holiday weekend through next week restoring power to thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric customers in northeast California after winter storms dumped more than 10 feet of snow in the Lake Tahoe area starting before Christmas.
Find Out MoreSeveral hundred customers have been restored, but the smaller outages with five or fewer customers may not be restored until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Find Out MoreWith the National Weather Service predicting snow for the Eugene area Sunday through Tuesday, we want to remind customers that the expected snow could bring trees and branches down onto overhead power lines and cause electric outages.
Find Out MoreJust as high winds with gusts of more than 30 mph arrived in the Oregon Cascades early Thursday, EWEB has completed aerial trimming around its Carmen-Smith transmission line using a helicopter with saw attachments to trim branches and treetops.
Find Out MoreEWEB Leads "Spill Drill" to test HazMat Response
Find Out MoreHave you ever thought about where your drinking water comes from? What about where your wastewater goes?
Find Out MoreA fuel tanker was carrying approximately 11,000 gallons of gasoline when it crashed along the McKenzie Highway one mile east of Leaburg on June 13, 2017. When emergency crews arrived on the scene, the tanker and trailer were found leaking and fuel was on the roadway.
The crash occurred just 1,500 feet from the McKenzie River, the sole source of drinking water for 200,000 people in Eugene and surrounding areas. The McKenzie also provides critical habitat for a number of endangered or threatened species including spring Chinook salmon, bull trout, spotted owl, Oregon chub, osprey and western pond turtle.
Fortunately, the spilled fuel did not enter into any tributaries of the McKenzie River, or the river itself. There was no surface water connecting the crash site to the waterways. However, the tanker released approximately 1,700 gallons of gasoline, contaminating soil and potentially impacting ground water. The initial response was carried out by McKenzie Fire & Rescue, Eugene-Springfield Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Team and Oregon Department of Transportation, until hazardous materials spill contractors and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality were able to take over the clean-up effort, which is expected to last for several days.
For more than 17 years, we have maintained an ambitious drinking water source protection program to protect the McKenzie and maintain the high water quality you enjoy. A critical component of the program is watershed emergency response.
While there are a number of potential hazards that could impact our water supply, chemical spills from transportation accidents is one of the highest threats to the McKenzie watershed. Hundreds of trucks travel the McKenzie Highway every day, many of them carrying hazardous materials such as gasoline, pesticides, and oil.
We want to be proactive in responding to a hazardous spill or other emergencies that could threaten McKenzie River water quality, so we have worked with dozens of federal, state and local agencies to implement the McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System (MWERS). Incident commanders use MWERS to quickly gain access to crucial information, equipment and trained people, making their response more effective.
"A reoccurring theme associated with major spills or releases is that there is confusion and uncertainty for first responders in the initial 6 to 12 hours following an event, and it is during those early hours when the opportunity to contain the spill may still exist," says EWEB's environmental supervisor Karl Morgenstern. "The McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System provides first responders with the tools they need to avoid confusion and effectively stabilize chemical spills as quickly as possible."
EWEB and dozens of partner agencies conduct annual MWERS training exercises to help prepare for chemical spills and other events that could impact the McKenzie watershed and our community's drinking water. As a result of conducting annual interagency emergency response drills on the river, EWEB was notified within minutes of the crash and worked closely with initial responders familiar with each other. Additional resources were offered if needed from the Army Corps of Engineers, City of Springfield, Springfield Utility Board and others who are part of MWERS.
In additional to chemical spills, a number of other emergencies could result in a water supply shortage: earthquake, drought, forest fire, severe flood, or a system or facility failure.
In case of an emergency our community is going to need access to clean water for drinking, public health and safety, so we're making strategic investments in key components of the water system. Our Water Reliability Initiative includes several infrastructure reliability projects over the next 10 years, including replacing water mains, upgrading interties, upgrading or building new reservoirs, adding back-up electrical power to pump stations, expanding the Hayden Bridge Filtration Plant and developing alternative water sources.
We also are working in partnership with neighboring water utilities, local public agencies, the Oregon Pacific Chapter of the American Red Cross and other emergency responders to assure a well-coordinated disaster response effort.
We are taking steps to prepare for an emergency in our community, whether human-caused or a natural disaster. You can do your part by building an emergency supply kit for your household.
If a natural or man-made disaster occurs, you can rest easier knowing you are better prepared with a household emergency kit. Putting together your own kit is simple and easy, and it begins with having on hand a minimum of one gallon of water per person per day for drinking and basic sanitation. While the American Red Cross recommends storing at least a three-day supply of water, larger disasters such as a possible Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake may require water for 14 days or more.
Learn more about building an emergency kit and where to get water during an emergency.
4200 Roosevelt Blvd.
Eugene, OR 97402
800-841-5871
541-685-7000
Open Monday-Friday
Phone hours: 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.