King County repairing leaky sewer line in Lincoln Park

King County contractors and staff are working around the clock to replace about 60 feet of a 30-inch sewer line in Lincoln Park in West Seattle. Wastewater workers discovered a sewage leak in the 50-year-old pipe Tuesday following heavy rains.

To stop the leak and enable sewer repairs, King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division began an emergency bypass at its nearby Barton Street Pump Station on the north side of the Fauntleroy ferry dock. To bypass the sewer line, King County is hauling wastewater from Barton to another operating pump station. The bypass will protect public health and prevent personal injury and severe property damage.

King County discovered the leak early Tuesday afternoon. The county posted the beach as closed, took water samples, and told health and regulatory agencies about the leak. Neighbors of all affected work sites have been told about the county's emergency response and repairs.

Normally, the Barton pump station pushes wastewater from the Fauntleroy area through a 6,250-foot pipeline to the county’s Murray Avenue Pump Station at Lowman Beach Park.

During major storms, the Barton station works as an outfall for excess rain combined with diluted wastewater. Flows normally go to King County's West Point Treatment Plant, which treats up to 440 million gallons of wastewater a day during storms. When stormwater gets into the pipes and they fill beyond capacity, the overflow goes through the outfall south of Lincoln Park. King County and the City of Seattle are carrying out a multimillion-dollar program to prevent most combined sewer overflows.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer utilities and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.