Water Bureau Finds Two Dead Birds While Draining Mount Tabor Reservoir

RESERVOIR NO. 5: On Mount Tabor.
By AARON MESH

The Portland Water Bureau says it discovered two dead birds in a Mount Tabor reservoir while draining it in the wake of last month's boil-water notice.

A Water Bureau spokesman says the decaying carcasses may or may not have contributed to the positive E. coli test results that sparked a city warning May 23 to boil tap water before drinking.

The bureau says the dead birds could not have been the only reason for the positive tests—because they were found in Reservoir 5, while Reservoir 1 also tested positive and the two pools don't share water.

These are hardly the first dead birds found in Portland's open-air reservoirs. WW reported last August that crews patrolling the reservoirs had over five years logged six dead ducks, two dead crows and a dead seagull in the drinking water.

Here's the text of Water Bureau spokesman Tim Hall's announcement:

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