Othello Richards, KREM 2 News

Hundreds of gallons of sewage may have spilled into Lake Pend Oreille near Bayview, ID.

BAYVIEW, ID -- The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality confirms a pump failure in Bayview, Idaho's sewage system may have released hundreds of gallons of sewage into Lake Pend Oreille.

Two of the city's three pumps that move sewage up a hill to a treatment facility failed early Sunday. The system then backed up and overflowed into a grassy swale along the lake. Inspectors suspect sewage leaked into the groundwater.

This sewage was partially treated. Workers plan to conduct water tests in the area of the leak to determine if there is a risk of E. Coli contamination. Results of those tests could lead to swimming restrictions.

This is the second sewage leak into Lake Pend Oreille in the past three months. A leaky pipe from some float houses in Bayview caused a few dozen gallons to be released into the water in April.