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Maintenance crew finds body underground in Oregon sewage system

Published  May 28, 2015 5:10pm PDT
Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Authorities say a body has been recovered from Eugene's sewage system.

Police said Thursday the body was in a concrete underground well at a pump station that collects waste from south and west Eugene.

Police said the gender hasn't been determined, and there's no information about how it got into the well. An autopsy is planned.

A crew doing twice-a-year maintenance found the body Wednesday. A utility official says the last cleaning was in September.

The pump station is one of 47 in a regional system. They lift sewage out of low areas so it can keep flowing by gravity.

Utility officials say sewage enters the pump station in a pipe 54 inches in diameter. The concrete well is about 10 feet wide by 30 feet long and 26 feet deep.