Community open house March 10 on plans for improving Bellevue Pump Station

2005 Archived News

The King County Wastewater Treatment Division plans to hold a community open house on Thursday, March 10, to describe plans for upgrading the Bellevue Pump Station at Southeast Sixth Street and 102nd Avenue Southeast.

The county needs to upgrade the facility to handle growing wastewater flows from the Bellevue area. The pump station is part of a regional wastewater system to protect public health and the environment.

The open house is scheduled to run from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Bellevue High School, 10415 S.W. Wolverine Way, Room 303.

The pump station improvements include new pumps; new electrical, mechanical and odor control equipment; a new standby generator; and new aboveground facilities for the new equipment. King County will also improve access to the pump station for maintenance vehicles and workers. All the upgrades will be on King County property.

Built in 1964, the facility now pumps wastewater to the Sweyolocken Pump Station in Mercer Slough Park off Bellevue Way. From there, the wastewater is piped to the county's South Treatment Plant in Renton. Together, the two pump stations serve the Bellevue central business district, Surrey Downs, west Bellevue and northwest Bellevue.

The county is also planning to build a 5,700-foot 24-inch pipeline to take flows directly from the pump station to a large regional pipeline near Interstate 405 that carries wastewater to Renton.

In April, King County will move forward with final design. In 2006, the county plans to advertise for construction contract bid, followed by construction beginning in summer 2006. Construction will take up to about three years to finish the upgrade of the pump station and build the new pipeline.

Under the State Environmental Policy Act, King County will conduct an environmental review for the project this spring.

King County welcomes ideas about the overall design of the pump station, landscaping and special needs of people affected by construction. To comment, ask questions, and request reasonable meeting accommodations for people with disabilities, contact John Phillips at 206-296-4081 (TTY Relay: 711).

More information is available on the project Web site.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division serves 18 cities, 16 local sewer agencies and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. The regional wastewater-treatment utility formerly known as Metro has been preventing water pollution for 40 years.