Update: County cancels deadline for sewer-overflow comments

It’s a project without a pithy name; the shortest we can ever come up with is: The Combined Sewer Overflow control proposals for the Barton (Fauntleroy) and Murray (Lowman Beach) pump stations. Whatever you want to call it, there’s an update tonight. Got word from King County Wastewater Treatment Division community-relations rep Martha Tuttle that they have lifted the deadline for comments on the proposed alternatives in each area – after extending it three times, they’re just going open-ended:

We have decided to extend the comment period on the CSO Beach Projects. Right now there is NO deadline. We want to encourage comments and questions and give adequate time for community members to respond. May 14 is not a deadline anymore.

This follows three meetings overflowing with community concern about the proposals – most of which involve digging up roads, residential sites and/or parkland to store wastewater to avoid overflows — most recently the Morgan Community Association meeting two weeks ago (WSB coverage here). Other developments since that meeting have included the county saying it’ll have another public meeting after all, and community members planning their own “Save Lowman Beach Park” meeting for next Monday.

Feedback links:
*Online survey
*E-mail: CSOBeachProjects@kingcounty.gov
*Phone: Martha Tuttle at 206-684-1207

Additional feedback links:
*The Sound Angels site links to city, county and state leaders in its right sidebar

8 Replies to "Update: County cancels deadline for sewer-overflow comments"

  • Mitch May 6, 2010 (9:16 pm)

    The shortest ‘we can come with’ is the term that has been used by municipalities and cities for over a 100 years – Combined Sewer Overflow – CSO. Guess they didn’t use that at Fox News. If you read this comment consider yourself one of the rare few, it will be gone in moments. Poof.

    • WSB May 6, 2010 (11:48 pm)

      Mitch, thanks, but I wasn’t talking about just abbreviating CSO – I meant the entire situation. Maybe the “south West Seattle CSO controversy” would work. Actual helpful suggestions welcome. Also, I never worked at Fox News. I worked for six of my 30 “old media” years at KCPQ, which does local news for the Western Washington market but is a Chicago Tribune-owned affiliate of the FOX programming network, which means they pay FOX a ridiculous amount of money to run the Simpsons, American Idol, stuff like that. Fox News is the cable channel owned by Rupert Murdoch. He also owns some local FOX stations but not in this market. – Tracy

  • Duckitude May 6, 2010 (9:48 pm)

    I think we owe this one to Jan Drago’s office, but I would be speculating. However, in my conversation with that office this morning, it is clear they are on this issue and that they get that the community is looking for a total rethink of the plans for the West Seattle CSO tanks and facilities.
    .

    My hope is that Dow Constantine is also on this in terms of what the community is saying with a virtually unanimous voice — back to the drawing boards, and this time, consult with us in a substantial way so we can get the best solutions for the Sound and the neighborhoods.
    .

    I imagine he is, but I just haven’t been able to get confirmation yet, and maybe they have to keep this process as “in-house” as possible.
    .

    Thanks, all. I think we are making the kind of progress we envisioned.

  • limited insight spotter May 6, 2010 (11:22 pm)

    Mitch –

    You’ve over-estimated the importance of your comment.

    *Poof* – back atcha’.

  • JanS May 6, 2010 (11:48 pm)

    Mitch, you need to get over yourself, and your personal thing about the editors of this blog. Get yourself a constructive life, say something relevant in your postings. People might have a tendency then to think that you have something intelligent to say.

    Sorry, editors, for making this a personal comment. I realize that it’s verboten…just get tired of some posters and their rantings :)

    • WSB May 7, 2010 (12:04 am)

      Also continuing the offtopic discussion on behalf of those who still work for Q13, in case anyone else harbors Mitch’s confusion: When I joined the station in 2001, they were branded “Q13 News.” Station management decided to add the FOX two years later over a fair amount of objections in the news department. The reporters in the field had to deal with this kind of thing almost daily, getting mistaken for employees of Rupert Murdoch’s cable network. Some would even report back that interviews were occasionally refused because people didn’t want to talk to “FOX News” as in the cable network and refused to believe that Q13 FOX News wasn’t somehow an arm of it. Every TV station in this town is owned by a large corporation – but none is owned by the network whose programming it carries – KCPQ by Tribune since 1998 (they bought it from a Sacramento-based company called Kelly, which bought it from the Clover Park School District in 1980), KING by Belo, KIRO by Cox, KOMO by Fisher (Seattle-based but operating in multiple states).

  • Duckitude May 8, 2010 (9:52 am)

    This just in from a very high ranking person in a Puget Sound clean water organization who has been helping us on these issues — “I met with Christy True, and I have spoken to some other King County staff as well, and their intention is to work with the community, share information, set up a stakeholder committee, etc. So this is good news.”
    .

    Hopefully, this will pan out as indicated. You never know for sure until you see the action, as they say.

    • WSB May 8, 2010 (10:25 am)

      Yes, I got a little more info from Annie Kolb-Nelson at KCWTD along those lines. The meeting to share technical info will be in June, so the original deadlines are definitely being pushed back. Will be publishing a separate story later. – TR

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