Raw sewage pouring into harbor off Bainbridge Island

A major sewage pipe that ruptured Saturday on Bainbridge Island continued to spill tens of thousands of gallons of raw waste into Eagle Harbor today, and a city official said the line can't be fixed until Tuesday morning.

Crews will be at the site by 5 a.m. Tuesday, with low tide starting at 8:12 a.m. and lasting through about 11 in the morning, said Lance Newkirk, deputy director of the city's Public Works Department.

The pipe, which carries about three-fifths of the city's sewage from a pump station to the treatment plant near Hawley Cove Park, was spewing more than 1,400 gallons an hour.

A passer-by reported the spill about 3 p.m. Saturday, but crews couldn't inspect the pipe — buried beneath the beach on the north shore of Eagle Harbor — until low tide Sunday morning, said Newkirk.

When they did, they found more extensive corrosion than expected on the 30-year-old iron pipe.

"It's getting near the end of its useful life," Newkirk said.

Newkirk estimates about 70,000 gallons of sewage spilled between the initial report and 9 a.m. Sunday, when the crew finished putting a temporary metal band on the pipe. The band should prevent any solid matter from spilling and cut the flow of liquid effluent to 35,000 gallons per 24-hour period.

At that rate, as much as 140,000 gallons may have spilled by Tuesday morning, when Newkirk said he expects the pipe to be repaired completely.

The pipe runs about four feet underneath the beach, about 1,000 feet from the ferry terminal. It's underwater except during low tides; crews had to dig it up Sunday morning to examine the damage.

Repair work probably will start around 5 a.m. Tuesday and take about four hours, Newkirk said. During that time, pump trucks will divert sewage from the damaged section of pipe.

The Kitsap County Health District has posted signs at the beach to warn people of the spill, and will test the water for fecal bacteria levels.

The spill will increase the nutrient load on an already ecologically stressed body of water, said Cara Cruickshank, director of EcoSolutions, a Bainbridge Island nonprofit.

"This is really upsetting," she said. "I'm not surprised, though; the infrastructure out here is badly in need of updating."

There is already an active Superfund site at the former Wyckoff wood-treatment plant and the adjacent water, which are contaminated with creosote and its breakdown products.

Leaking septic tanks also contaminate the waters of Eagle Harbor, Cruickshank said, and even the treated sewage from the plant contains nitrogen and other nutrients that promote excess algae and seaweed growth.

On top of that, she said, the harbor doesn't have good "tidal flow," meaning contaminants in the water aren't flushed or diluted regularly.

She said of the current spill, "That much raw sewage is just hard on the system."

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com