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The Portland Water Bureau on Friday ordered a halt to construction at the $2.1 billion Bull Run Filtration Project site after an adverse land-use ruling. It’s unclear how long construction will be paused at the site.

The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals in January remanded a decision to Multnomah County, saying the county had failed to fully consider natural resources in its decision approving construction. With the legal matter on remand, the Water Bureau on Friday paused work on the project.

“There are many unknowns at this time 鈥� including the duration of the pause 鈥� but we’ll be working with the county and LUBA to better understand the timeline and project impacts in coming days and weeks,” Water Bureau spokeswoman Felicia Heaton stated in an email Friday.

The city is up against a deadline imposed by the Oregon Health Authority to deliver filtered water to customers by Sept. 30, 2027. The construction of the plant stems from the discovery in 2017 of the parasite cryptosporidium in Portland’s water supply.

“While we respect the land use process and will fully comply with the remand, every day of delay drives up construction costs and increases the risk of missing our public health compliance deadline 鈥� challenges that directly impact our communities, businesses and ratepayers,鈥� Priya Dhanapal, deputy city administrator for public works, stated in a news release.

Mayor Keith Wilson, in a statement Friday, said the project is “the right thing to do to protect public health.”

“We will continue to participate faithfully in the land use process and look forward to addressing the issues on remand so we can get back to building this critical project as efficiently and cost effectively as possible,” Wilson added.

The project is being built by a joint venture of water-plant specialist MWH Constructors and construction giant Kiewit Corp. in a rural area of east Multnomah County near the Clackamas County line. The joint venture broke ground on the site in June 2024.

Workers at the site on Friday received text messages saying “construction is temporarily suspended until further notice.” Non-manual staff were advised to report to work on Monday to help guide the project through its next phase.

Craft employees were told not to report to work Saturday through Tuesday.

“Some critical construction operations will continue and craft employees will be notified by their direct employer in the next few days,” a message stated.

“We are sorry for this unplanned disruption of your good work and will inform you of the next steps when given guidance by the Portland Water Bureau,” another message stated.

Project supporters are exploring another option: state legislation that would exempt the project from zoning requirements.

Senate Bill 936 would make a 鈥減ublic health infrastructure facility鈥� an allowed use in any zone if the facility were to face a construction deadline from the Oregon Health Authority, Department of Environmental Quality or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would essentially strip local authorities of land use approval powers over such projects.

The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, and Sen. James Manning Jr., D-Eugene. It has been referred to the Veterans, Emergency Management, Federal and World Affairs Committee.