Community meeting April 27 on construction impacts of upgrading Vashon Wastewater Treatment Plant

2004 Archived News

At a community meeting Tuesday, April 27, representatives of King County's Wastewater Treatment Division will discuss construction impacts of upgrading the aging Vashon Treatment Plant. The state Department of Ecology, King County and Vashon Sewer District have determined the plant must be upgraded to ensure safe, reliable operation.

The meeting, at the Vashon Public Library, 17210 Vashon Highway S.W., is scheduled to run from 6-8:15 p.m. It will begin with an open house, followed by a presentation at 6:45 on project background, construction details, and plans to minimize construction impacts such as noise, odor, lighting and traffic. A question and answer session will begin at 7:30.

The new plant will increase capacity, add backup systems, and move the outfall for treated wastewater farther out in Puget Sound. The plant needs these improvements to meet regulatory requirements and protect public health and the environment.

Scheduled to begin in June, construction will take place next to the existing plant at 9621 171st St. S.W., east of Vashon Highway Southwest. The plant serves 425 customers -- mostly residences and businesses in and around the island's main business area.

The sewer district contracted with King County in 1999 to take over ownership of the formerly inadequate and poorly functioning sewage treatment system. The plant had experienced more than 100 permit violations in the 1990s under the U.S. Clean Water Act and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. The sewer district requested King County's expertise in wastewater treatment and financing to solve serious problems.

After taking over treatment plant operations, King County carried out many interim steps to improve the existing plant. Since then, the county has substantially reduced permit violations such as excessive fecal coliform levels in the plant effluent. The plant has not had a permit exception in more than a year. Also, raw and lightly treated sewage no longer contaminates nearby Gorsuch Creek.

While the 49-year-old plant is now doing an adequate job, it is at capacity for the amount of incoming wastewater. The plant has no backup systems. If one piece of the system malfunctions, the quality of treatment will be jeopardized.

Construction will include excavation and clearing, several new concrete tanks and buildings, and doubling the length of the outfall for secondary-treated wastewater in Puget Sound. All work, to be done under approved permits and environmental controls, is scheduled to end in late 2005.

During the past two years, King County held public meetings and asked for comments on the proposed architectural and landscape design and public art for the project. The county considered those comments in the final design.

For more information and to arrange reasonable meeting accommodations for people with disabilities, contact Jo Sullivan at 206-296-8361. Request e-mail updates by sending Jo Sullivan an e-mail message. The project also has a 24-hour hot line, 206-205-9181, and Web site.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 18 cities, 15 sewer districts and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. The regional public utility has been preventing water pollution for nearly 40 years.