Summary

The King County Council’s Regional Water Quality Committee on Wednesday received a key report recommending electrical upgrades, strategies to adjust back-up power and more to prevent future wastewater spills like the failure that led to the spilling of millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound and Lake Washington on January 13, 2021.

Story

The King County Council’s Regional Water Quality Committee on Wednesday received a key report recommending electrical upgrades, strategies to adjust back-up power and more to prevent future wastewater spills like the failure that led to the spilling of millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound and Lake Washington on January 13, 2021. The report provides analysis of the causes and consequences of the wastewater spills, as required by a motion sponsored by Councilmember Reagan Dunn and approved by the King County Council. 

“This is a good step forward to implementing the needed changes to care for our region’s waters, including the Puget Sound,” Dunn said. “It’s important that King County acts as a good steward by taking the steps necessary to prevent wastewater spills, which have been all too common.”

The January 2021 Unpermitted Wastewater Discharge Report, which was briefed at the September 1^st meeting of the Regional Water Quality Committee, recommends strategies to limit or eliminate future wastewater overflows, some of which have been implemented while others are in progress. At the West Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, King County is making electrical upgrades to increase reliability as well as evaluating a strategy to adjust backup power when power disruptions are anticipated. Upgrades are also planned for equipment at the Medina Pump Station, including a standby generator upgrade. In addition, King County is developing methods to incorporate data on climate change rainfall impacts into wastewater facility upgrade planning.

A rainstorm on January 13 caused flooding and power outages throughout the Puget Sound region and led to a power failure at King County’s West Point Treatment plant, located in Seattle’s Discovery Park. Due to the heavy rain and power outage, the plant spilled 11 million gallons of untreated wastewater — including sewage, industrial toxins, stormwater runoff, and other contaminants — into Puget Sound. An additional 2.4 million gallons of stormwater and sewage spilled into Lake Washington from other wastewater facilities, including Medina, Richmond Beach, and East Pine pump stations.