Salmon Creek Greenway Trail reopens after spill

Felida – The Salmon Creek Greenway Trail reopened Monday, after a power outage Sunday prompted by countywide power outages caused a sewage spill near the trail.

The spill was found east of the pump station on Northwest 36th Avenue, and the county closed the trail for cleanup.

The trail is open, but the county public works department cordoned off two areas along the trail where sewage mixed with storm runoff. One affected area is on the south side of the trail, about three-fourths of a mile east of Northwest 36th Avenue. The second is on the north side of the trail about a quarter-mile east of Northwest 36th Avenue.

The county added that dog owners should keep dogs from playing in or drinking the water, and that dogs must be leashed at all times on the trail.

Workers will post notices around the trail to alert users, and will take water samples from the two areas daily. The warning tape and signs will be removed once Clark County Public Health determines the areas are safe.

A power failure on Sunday, one of the many triggered by Saturday night’s windstorm, caused the outage. The pump facility has a backup generator, which kicked in during the outage, but the pumps did not engage, leading to overflows.

The spill was relatively minor, according to county officials, and the cleanup was finished in about four hours Sunday. The county was investigating what happened.