| June 11, 1999Regional
partners reject $120 million interceptor
Siting cost, efficiency and environmental impact, the majority of the Regional Water
Quality Committee (RWQC) declared their opposition to the proposed development of a
massive sewage interceptor line from Kenmore to North Seattle.
The 29,000 foot-long parallel Kenmore Interceptor is being considered by the
Metropolitan King County Council as an $120 million addition to the Executive’s
Preferred Wastewater Service Plan (RWSP). The council is scheduled to vote on the RWSP on
Monday, June 14.
Yesterday, in a letter to King County Council Chair Louise
Miller, the RWQC members wrote:
"The undersigned members of the Regional Water
Quality Committee strongly oppose the proposed development of a 29,000 foot-long parallel
Kenmore Interceptor. We believe that a substantial amount of information has been provided
to clearly demonstrate that the existing interceptor is in good-to-excellent condition;
that the proposed parallel interceptor would be unnecessarily costly and extremely
difficult to construct; that construction of the new line (in any configuration –
54-inch, 84-inch or 108-inch diameters) would create significant environmental problems;
and that a less costly and significantly more efficient alternative is available to
address the sanitary sewer overflow problems in the Kenmore / Lake Forest Park
areas."
The committee’s letter notes that the County Council has
preliminarily agreed with the core of the executive’s plan that would:
- construct a new treatment plant in north King or south Snohomish County by 2010;
- expand modestly the East Treatment Plant in Renton;
- accelerate the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) program;
- create an incentive program to spur repair of old and leaking pipes; and
- investigate new ways to safely recycle and reuse highly treated wastewater.
An outstanding issue appears to be council initiatives to construct a parallel to the
Kenmore Interceptor. Proponents of the parallel, including Councilmembers Rob McKenna and Maggi Fimia,
suggest that the five-mile pipe could be placed under or in Lake Washington, or align with
the Burke-Gilman Trail. The pipe would act as a storage unit for millions of gallons of
raw sewage originating from the Kenmore/Lake Forest Park area.
Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the RWQC, and
King County Executive Ron Sims oppose the parallel interceptor, favoring instead the
construction of a storage vault to help the city of Kenmore during severe storms and to
provide a safety net for the entire region should construction of a new plant be delayed
past 2010. The engineering firms of Brown & Caldwell, CH2M Hill, Kramer Chin Mayo, HDR
and Kato & Warren also support construction of a storage vault.
The county council has been reviewing the Executive’s Preferred RWSP since January
1999. The plan has earned the support of the National Marine Fisheries Services,
Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce; People For Puget Sound; Masterbuilders Association of
King and Snohomish County; King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Boeing Company; Citizens
Water Advisory Committee; 1000 Friends of Washington; Regional Water Quality Committee;
Washington Department of Ecology; Suburban Cities Association; Washington Environmental
Council; Metropolitan Water Pollution Abatement Advisory Council; the cities of Bellevue,
Kent, Renton, Tukwila, Des Moines, Auburn, Shoreline, Seattle and Woodway; the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer; the South County Journal; the Eastside Journal; and,
the Seattle Times.
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