Lightning damages pump station, results in small overflow

2005 Archived News

A small amount of diluted wastewater overflowed about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday from one of the four King County pump stations serving Bunker Trail on north Vashon Island. To protect public health and the environment, the pump stations send flows from the waterfront homes to the Vashon Treatment Plant.

The overflow, estimated at between 10 and 100 gallons, was apparently a result of pump station damage caused by an earlier lightning strike. During the overflow, a small amount of liquid waste seeped around a pump station manhole cover and ran down Vashon Highway Southwest to a stormwater catch basin.

County workers are repairing the pump station. They reported the overflow to the local public health department and state Department of Ecology.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division serves the Vashon Sewer District, 17 cities and 16 other local sewer agencies in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly known as Metro, the regional wastewater-treatment utility has been preventing water pollution for 40 years.