Seattle projectsDesign is nearly complete on a project to replace a 70-year-old wooden sewer pipe that extends across the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The county will evaluate bids and award construction contracts in 2009. The county is upgrading this pump station to meet current design and safety standards. Improvements include a new emergency generator system, larger pumps, upgraded electrical system, and replacement of other associated equipment. Improving water quality by controlling combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, that occur in older parts of the system during heavy rains remains a priority in 2009. Major projects this year include completing the planning on the Puget Sound Beaches projects to control CSOs around North Beach, West Seattle, and South Magnolia. The public will continue to have opportunities to be involved in further CSO control project planning. Construction will be completed in 2009 on an Alki area pump station improvement project that features new odor control equipment, upgrades to the facility's electrical and mechanical systems, and doubling the size of the below-ground facilities. The county is building a new underground odor control facility that includes a new one-story, 340-square-foot electrical enclosure just south of King Street Station near the Weller Street Bridge. The project will help improve air quality in south Pioneer Square and the stadium areas by reducing or eliminating odors from the Elliott Bay Interceptor, a large sewer pipe that carries wastewater from south Seattle through the downtown area to West Point Treatment Plant. King County is working with Boeing, Port of Seattle, and City of Seattle on a cleanup plan for the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site. Among 2009 highlights, a draft feasibility study that will evaluate a number of possible cleanup options is due to be presented to agencies and the public in April. King County recently upgraded the electrical system in this West Seattle pump station. The county is also completing the design on a structure for new odor control and emergency generator equipment, which will incorporate the design guidelines established with the help of local community members. The King County Wastewater Treatment Division is extending the pipeline that conveys Ravenna Creek downstream from Ravenna Park. To protect public health and the environment, a section of pipeline will be added to isolate the stream and prevent potential sewer overflows into University Slough. This program enables King County to proactively address sediment contamination near combined sewer overflow, or CSO, locations in Puget Sound. The county is continuing its efforts to remove historic CSO contamination and restore habitat at locations in Elliott Bay and the Waterway. Waste-to-Energy The Waste-to-Energy project under way at the West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood will focus on upgrading the plant's cogeneration system to increase the use of digester gas as a source of heat and power. The division is scheduled to solicit contractor bids in 2009.
|