West Seattle Blog…

West Seattle holidays: Early reminder about tree-cycling

Always hate to start talking pre-Christmas about what to do with the tree post-Christmas, but in case you’re wondering, Seattle Public Utilities has just sent the information (which gives us another occasion to remind you that if you have Tuesday solid-waste pickup, it’ll be on Wednesday the next two weeks since Christmas/New Year’s are on Tuesdays):

City residents who subscribe to curbside food and yard waste collection can put their Christmas trees and holiday greens out on their regular collection day at no extra charge, from Dec. 26, 2012 to Jan. 13, 2013.

Multi-family buildings can put out one tree next to each food and yard waste cart per collection day at no extra charge during this time.

Trees should be cut into sections of six feet long or shorter, with branches trimmed to less than four feet to fit into the collection trucks. Sections should be bundled with string or twine. Metal, plastic and ornaments in trees and wreaths must be removed.

Trees that are flocked and/or have tinsel or ornaments will be collected as extra garbage. Customers will need to cut the tree into three-foot pieces and each piece will be charged as extra garbage. Each unit of extra garbage costs $8.60. Plastic trees are not recyclable.

Seattle residents can also drop off their holiday trees and greens for free at Seattle Public Utilities’ North and South Recycling and Disposal stations between Dec. 26, 2012 and Jan. 13, 2013. The tree sections must be cut to eight feet or less in length and the trunk must be four inches or smaller in diameter. The limit is three trees per vehicle. Only trees and wreaths without flocking or decoration may be disposed free of charge.

The City of Seattle’s North Recycling and Disposal Station in the Fremont/Wallingford area and the South Recycling and Disposal Station in the South Park area will be closed on Christmas Day, December 25, and New Year’s Day, January 1. The North Recycling and Disposal Station is located at 1350 North 34th Street. The South Recycling and Disposal Station is located at 8105 5th Ave South. The stations are open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

In case you need it again for reference, we’ll add this to the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, which will be up and running through New Year’s Day, too.

West Seattle storm aftermath: Pump-station project damage

The King County Wastewater Treatment District says the Monday morning “storm surge” caused some minor damage at the Barton Pump Station expansion project north of the ferry dock. Crews repaired the chain-link fence and concrete barrier blocks, according to a news release:

The storm washed waves and driftwood through the barrier into the construction site. The repaired barrier includes an additional row of concrete blocks to protect against future storm events.

Crew members were on site Sunday to prepare for the approaching storm. All on-site liquids were properly stored and materials from the jet grouting operation were cured. There was no contamination of any materials into Puget Sound.

Crews will continue to monitor site conditions through the winter storm season and will take precautionary measures as needed to protect both the site and Puget Sound.

The construction work is scheduled to continue until late 2014.

Another West Seattle traffic alert: Bridge work Monday night

Also received late today from SDOT – utility work on the bridge Monday night/Tuesday morning:

City crews will perform high-priority maintenance work on electrical utilities at the western end of the West Seattle Bridge on Monday night, Dec. 17. This work will require drivers coming from Admiral Way SW to make a slight detour as they drive onto the bridge. The crews will begin work at 8:30 p.m. and will have all lanes open again no later than 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

Planned power outage tomorrow to affect 50 in North Delridge

Karen e-mailed after getting a notice yesterday regarding a planned power outage in her North Delridge neighborhood. We checked with Seattle City Light, which confirms that about 50 customers (homes/businesses) in the 26th/Juneau (map) vicinity will be affected by the work to be done tomorrow between 8 an and 6 pm. City Light’s Scott Thomsen explains, “We’re moving some wires and three transformers to comply with updated spacing standards from NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation).” Again, everyone affected should have received a notice at their home/business.

Update: West Seattle power outage peaks at almost 1,000 homes, businesses

(35th/Barton 7-11 has power but its sign and nearby intersection do not. WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
7:25 PM: We’re getting multiple reports of a power outage in Westwood – 35th and Henderson is our most recent report – and at least as far south as 9800 block of 31st SW. More to come.

7:33 PM UPDATE: Fauntlee Hills is also affected, according to some we’ve heard from. This outage is NOT on the Seattle City Light map yet (lately, they seem to take a while to show up there) but we have a message out to SCL.

7:37 PM UPDATE: While waiting for word from SCL, we have a crew out checking on the extent of the outage. For starters – stoplights are out on 35th between Thistle and Barton, though the homes on both sides of the street seem to have power. Just got a call back from City Light – they say at least 600 customers (homes/businesses) are affected but they have no idea about the cause, yet.

7:47 PM UPDATE: The City Light outage map is starting to show the outage boundaries. Looks like part of Arbor Heights is affected too, and part of the unincorporated area east of 35th/south of Roxbury.

7:59 PM UPDATE: Our crew is just back from surveying the area and it’s as spotty as it looks on the City Light map – streets where one side is out and the other is not, for example. By the way – if you are reading this via a mobile device, WSB’er Jono reminded us recently that City Light has a mobile-optimized site – find it here.

8:37 PM UPDATE: City Light has now upped the total of affected homes/businesses to almost 1,000. But no update on the outage’s cause, yet.

8:57 PM UPDATE: And … just received a few messages about power coming back on (one was from 31st/Henderson). If after a while yours is still out, let us know.

9:04 PM UPDATE: John Gustafson at City Light says that almost everyone should be back on shortly if they’re not back on already. The outage was traced to “equipment failure,” a piece of overhead equipment called a “jumper,” though he says they’re not sure why it failed.

County says Alki-area sewer-pipe project almost done

Neighbors on and near 62nd SW south of Admiral Way will have something to be thankful for next week – the expected end of work on a weeks-long project to re-line a county sewer pipe, which has involved night work and has even required some neighbors to spend “a few nights in hotels,” says Doug Marsano from the county Wastewater Treatment District. He reports that the pipe lining itself is done, and now the final phase includes re-lining the manholes along the line. Crews aren’t working during the holiday weekend but are expected to be back on the job next week.

Quake-safety evaluations for West Seattle’s covered reservoirs

That underground video shows what West Seattle Reservoir in Highland Park looked like three years ago, before the city finished covering it and filling it with water – one of two now-buried reservoirs in WS, along with Myrtle Reservoir between High Point and Gatewood.

While they’re out of sight, today they are not at all out of mind: While Seattle Public Utilities insists there are “no safety issues,” they confirm that both of West Seattle’s underground reservoirs – along with two others in the city – are undergoing seismic evaluations, to determine whether there’s a chance they might leak if there’s an earthquake.

This story broke last night at SeattleTimes.com (WSB partner); reporter Lynn Thompson writes that a firm that worked on the projects brought the potential problem to the city’s attention, saying their seismic calculations were based on above-ground structures, not underground ones. We talked about the report with SPU spokesperson Andy Ryan, who says test results won’t be in till spring, and once they are, if they show a potential seismic risk, then they’ll decide how to handle it. “We don’t expect that this is going to cost the public any more,” Ryan told WSB, pointing out that they recovered almost the entire cost of work done three years ago after Myrtle and Beacon Reservoirs’ waterproofing membranes were found to be leaky. (We broke that story here on WSB in July 2009, researching and reporting it after watchful neighbors noticed unusual work at the site and started inquiring. As Thompson’s story in The Times notes, the city and its contractors settled that case two years ago.)

Ryan says the seismic discovery – not related to the waterproofing issue, though both involved the design firm MWH – is not new; the evaluation, involving “sophisticated modeling,” has been in the works a while: “We have been working for a year and a half to get this modeling set up, to find the right people.” He stresses there is no current safety issue, no leakage – they just want to be sure there wouldn’t be, even in case of catastrophe.

One more thing we’ll be checking on: Both reservoir-covering projects in West Seattle led to the development of new park space. Myrtle is done, but WS (adjacent to Westcrest Park) is not – so we will check with Seattle Parks to see if waiting for evaluation results there might affect construction plans there.

Frequently asked question, answered: When will the new South Transfer Station open?

(May 2012 photo courtesy Hal Tangen)
Today, an answer to a question we’re asked increasingly often: When is the new South Transfer Station between West Seattle and South Park going to officially open?

The question is understandable, given that it’s now been almost half a year since the dedication ceremony for the $50 million state-of-the-art facility. Though there was a sizable media turnout for the ceremony, little coverage resulted, because starting literally minutes after the event on May 30th, the city was gripped by a crime rampage with ongoing reports filling newscasts, newspapers, and web pages (including ours): The murders of five people at Café Racer and a parking lot, a story that stretched from North Seattle to Downtown Seattle, then to West Seattle, where the killer committed suicide.

But ultimately, that had nothing to do with what has happened at the station, and not happened, in the months since. And even the official webpage for the project projected a summer opening – as in, weeks after the event. Since we’ve been getting questions about it, we just talked with Seattle Public Utilities for the latest update.

The short explanation, according to SPU spokesperson Andy Ryan: “We’re still working through the punch list.” Seems like a long time for a punch list, we suggested. Ryan elaborates, “A lot of little things just aren’t working perfectly, like the scales” – the automated chip readers that will be used with trucks are still not working reliably, and another issue is the sprinklers in the transfer station’s tunnel. “We’re behind schedule,” Ryan acknowledges, “but it’s more important that we get it right before we move into the next phase.”

That phase is scheduled to include a “shakedown” in January, when the city starts letting trucks in “to see how they do – there’ll be problems; we’ll fix them.” Then in early February, Ryan says, “we’ll let regular customers in, for limited hours” – that too will be more of a shakedown.

So when do they think it’ll be fully open for business? Ryan won’t get more specific than “first quarter” – sometime by the end of March, which will be 10 months after the dedication.

From Seattle City Light: Do this before the NEXT power outage

One followup to our coverage of the Sunday morning power outage that at its peak affected 11,000 homes and businesses across the south half of West Seattle: Commenter “Zephyr” described a challenge with the automated outage-reporting phone system. In response, Seattle City Light‘s Scott Thomsen explains how it works and one step you should take NOW in case you have to report an outage, big or small:

It is important for us to know that someone reporting an outage is an actual customer, so the automated system we use when the call center is not staffed tries to identify callers by their telephone number. If you’re calling from a different phone, you can enter the phone number that is associated with your account.

If we don’t have a customer’s current phone numbers, the system will bounce the call. That’s one of the many reasons why its so important for people to make sure their information is current. We keep this information secure. We never share it with any other organization.

Customers can update their contact information online at seattle.gov/light/Accounts/cust_info.asp

Sunday’s outage was blamed on underground equipment failure; we still have an inquiry out for more specifics, including what’s been done in terms of repairs, and will report that information when we get it.

West Seattle power outage: 11,000 homes, businesses affected at peak; ‘underground equipment’ blamed

(Screengrab from City Light outage map when outage was at its peak, 5:50-ish am)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 4:37 AM: Power’s out at WSB HQ in Upper Fauntleroy and elsewhere in Gatewood and near Lincoln Park, per texts we’ve gotten. Investigating further.

4:44 AM: Not on City Light’s outage map, which only means they haven’t had time to post it yet. We’re getting messages from High Point, too, as well as north Morgan Junction, but WSB’ers in Admiral and Alki say they’re still powered.

4:50 AM: City Light map is updated now. 3265 “customers,” which means homes/businesses.

5:04 AM: The City Light map shows this outage isn’t one contiguous area, and that’s what our spotter crew is finding. Heading north, it’s on in part of Gatewood. On at California/Fauntleroy. But we’ve had reports further north of there.

5:18 AM: City Light has now issued an official news release but does not have an estimated restoration time. Meantime, our crew on the road says the outage zone seems to be shifting – he went past one area in the High Point vicinity that was OK a few minutes ago and now is out.

5:31 AM: Some just got power back – the lights on 35th through Gatewood/High Point are back on but in “flashing” mode.

6 AM: The City Light map just dramatically increased the number of homes/businesses affected to almost 11,000.

6:07 AM: Just got our power back (California/Thistle vicinity). Who’s still out?

6:20 AM: City Light spokesperson Mark Van Oss tells WSB that “underground equipment” caused this. If anybody IS still out, it might be as late as 11 am before it’s back.

6:43 AM: City Light map now shows 1,700+ homes/businesses still out.

7:15 AM: Down to about 700, and City Light says everyone should be back on within a half-hour or so.

8:38 AM: And they are – at least according to the map. P.S. Though the official news releases earlier capped the outage at the original 3,200+ number, SCL’s Van Oss confirms it was indeed up to almost 11,000 for a while: “In attempting to reroute power to restore a portion of customers with another feeder (major power line), that second feeder relayed out. So, a second block of customers was out for about 20 minutes. This would have included Westwood. Your numbers are correct.”

8:53 AM: That’s reflected in the final news release, which specifies a failed underground cable as the cause: Click to read the rest of West Seattle power outage: 11,000 homes, businesses affected at peak; ‘underground equipment’ blamed…

West Seattle power outage: 2 ‘customers,’ but one’s a school

4 PM: We’re checking with Seattle City Light about what at first glance might look like a small power outage in High Point – two “customers,” per the SCL outage map – but affects many more people, because one of those “customers” is West Seattle Elementary School, according to tipster Odetta, who says it happened right around dismissal time, just before 3. The city map projects restoration around mid-evening, but says the cause is being investigated.

4:07 PM UPDATE: SCL spokesperson Scott Thomsen tells WSB the problem isn’t with their system, but rather “the customer’s panel.” So now we’re checking with the school district.

ADDED: Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Teresa Wippel explains:

(The) power outage was from 2:50-3:47 pm, caused by a boiler malfunction that blew the circuit breakers. Students left school about 10 minutes early to wait for the bus since there was no power. They were able to bring the power back on and City Light came out to inspect and ensure there were no safety issues. So school is on as usual for (Friday) but I’m told it may be a little cool at the school in the morning since the boiler still needs repairs — the building also has a heat pump, which will be used as a backup until the boiler is fixed. (They need to get some parts to do that.)

Quick note about West Seattle outages today

ORIGINAL REPORT, 2:10 PM: Two outages of note – Right now, water is out along a stretch of 35th SW, says Dawnee, who lives near 35th/Findlay; she says crews told her it was “emergency repairs.” We’ll check with Seattle Public Utilities. Earlier, 69 “customers” (homes/businesses) were out for a few hours in part of Highland Park. After someone asked us about it we checked and noted that it was labeled a “planned outage.” Seattle City Light told us it was to enable tree-trimming near power lines; we asked how notice is given, since the person who contacted us said it caught him by surprise – spokesperson Scott Thomsen says usually notice comes in postal mail a couple weeks ahead of time.

4 PM UPDATE: SPU’s Ingrid Goodwin explains the water outage:

SPU water crews were performing routine maintenance when they encountered a problem that required an emergency shut-down of the watermain. About 80 homes and 6 hydrants were without water for about 15 minutes while crews corrected the problem. Water was restored to all customers about shortly after 2 pm.

Open house today: Fewer Sunrise Heights, Westwood bioswales to reduce sewer overflows

10 am-noon today, King County Wastewater Treatment staffers are at Westside School (WSB sponsor) for an open house to talk about the changes to the proposal for “green stormwater infrastructure” to reduce combined-sewer overflows from the Barton Pump Station in Fauntleroy. The map above – which is from this newsletter sent by the county – shows the new plan for 19 blocks where the county wants to put in “bioswales,” down from more than 30 in earlier versions of the proposal, which is now up to the “60-percent design” stage. There’s also a new aspect to the plan – incentives for voluntary participation in the RainWise program to install raingardens. According to the agenda for the meeting – which you’ll find here, along with other documents – there’s no presentation; they’ll explain the format at 10 am, and then information tables are open till noon.

Reminder: Find out tonight about South Delridge raingardens and other potential sewer-overflow-control plans

(Click image to see larger version as PDF)
Though we didn’t publish a standalone daily preview today – please remember, ALL the preview information is available on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar at all times, 24/7, for the current day and future days/weeks/months – we did want to make sure South Delridge residents remember to check out Seattle Public Utilities‘ big community briefing tonight: It’s about the possibility of raingardens and/or new storage tanks to reduce combined-sewer overflows that have been going into Longfellow Creek. Here’s the city webpage with an overview. We’ve reported on this three times in recent weeks – a preview here before the Delridge Neighborhood District Council was briefed (here), followed a week later by the Highland Park Action Committee briefing (here) – but tonight is the big chance to get details and answers. 6 pm at the Salvation Army Center, 9050 16th SW.

Arbor Heights water-main work: October 8th set as starting date

(August 2011 photo – what the water-main improvements are meant to prevent)
If you’re in the Arbor Heights areas where the city will be replacing water mains and adding fire hydrants as part of the project sparked by the August 2011 house fire – watch your mailbox. Seattle Public Utilities is sending you this one-sheet, now that the date has been set for work to start on October 8th. They’ll move from south to north, starting on SW 105th between 37th and 39th; Award Construction is the contractor, and the city says crews will work Mondays through Thursdays, completing construction by mid-December, with road restoration to follow. As the flyer says: “When completed, these water-system improvements will increase firefighting capabilities, resulting in all properties in Arbor Heights being within 1,000 feet of a 1,000 gallon-per-minute fire hydrant.”

P.S. In case you missed it – one month ago, we researched and published a one-year-later followup on the fire and these planned improvements; see it here.

Barton Pump Station project: Work about to intensify

Just north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock, work at the Barton Pump Station upgrade project is about to intensify – with what project spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson calls some “pretty major equipment” arriving starting tomorrow. It’s equipment needed for “jet grouting,” which this project is using instead of pile driving “because it’s quieter and better for working around other underground utilities,” she says. The work over the next few months will affect the ferry dock, too, with some lane closures. Full details are on this flyer. Kolb-Nelson reminds those concerned that “people with questions or concerns during business hours can contact Kristine Cramer directly at 206-263-3184 or e-mail kristine.cramer@kingcounty.gov. We also have a 24-hour project hotline, which is 206-296-2999.”

Waste Management strike aftermath: Trash-bill credit

Remember the city mentioning during the Waste Management strike that it was tallying missed collections for a possible fine against WM? The fine has just been announced – $1.24 million – and that’ll result in a $10 credit on residential bills. The Seattle Times (WSB partner) has details.

West Seattle power outage: 157 homes in Genesee area

3:42 PM: One Genesee Hill area resident says she heard a “boom” – then the power went out. The outage wasn’t on the City Light map when we got that note, but it is now: 157 homes affected, with restoration expected by early evening. The cause is listed as “bird/animal.”

5:13 PM NOTE: Back on, according to commenters AND the City Light map. (The image above is a screengrab of the map, before the power was restored.)

Safety alert: Wires down in Charlestown-area alley

Thanks to Paula for e-mailing to explain, in case anyone wondered, what Engine 29 is up to in an alley near Charlestown/44th/45th – she says “wires popped, fizzled, and fell into at least three yards.” No fire, and no outages, but the alley is blocked off until the situation’s fixed.

West Seattle power outage: Fairmount Avenue trouble

(Screenshot from the City Light outage map)
5:43 PM: Thanks to Helen for the tip: There’s a small power outage around Fairmount Ravine – 21 homes, according to the Seattle City Light outage tracker – with a downed tree/wires reported to be to blame. (Bev says, via Facebook, Fairmount is blocked between Harbor and Forest.)

9:51 PM UPDATE: City Light has updated the marker to 13 homes, with power expected back for them around 1 am. We also have added a photo shared by Helen, showing the problem.

West Seattle power outage on Avalon Way: Planned, says SCL

(Photo added midnight; no power at 35th/Avalon 7-11)
If you drive along Avalon Way tonight and notice it’s darker than usual – it’s a planned outage, as labeled on the Seattle City Light outage map. Robin just e-mailed to say she had noticed; two Avalon Way residents had e-mailed earlier. One said she had received notice that it was a scheduled outage related to the just-under-way 3261 Avalon Way apartment project, set for overnight tonight “to meet the needs of the local commercial businesses.” The other resident said she had not received notice. The SCL map says about 28 customers are affected – we don’t know whether an apartment building is counted as one or many customers but the power’s not set to be back on till 6 am.

West Seattle power outage: Almost 90 out on Delridge

The Longfellow Creek Apartments complex at Delridge and Juneau is the center of a power outage that’s in its second hour. A resident called to ask about it; the City Light outage map shows it’s affecting 87 customers (each customer is a single household or business, so the number of people affected is always greater than the number of customers). The cause is listed as “equipment failure”; the caller mentioned hearing a loud noise that might have been a transformer going out (no fire calls to the area, though).

Next steps at future Lowman Beach sewer-overflow-tank site: Fence this week, ‘painting party’ Saturday

Sometime before Saturday, King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division plans to put up a fence around the future site of its Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project – a million-gallon tank across from Lowman Beach. That will precede demolition of the county-purchased homes/apartments on the site. “No parking” signs line both sides of the Lowman Beach section of Beach Drive this week, and the fence is scheduled to be up by Saturday (August 18). That’s the day the county plans a community “painting party” – 10 am-3:30 pm:

You are invited to help paint the mural that will cover the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Facility construction site fence for at least the next year. The Nature Consortium’s teaching artist will be onsite to explain mural design and help painters get started. Materials and templates will be provided, but wear your painting clothes! Families and children of all ages are welcome, and there is no obligation to stay for the whole day. You can paint for a while, enjoy a snack and then go enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

Along with the community-painted art, which will be on the Beach Drive side of the fence, King County’s Doug Marsano tells WSB that Urban Artworks will produce art panels for the Lincoln Park Way side.

Strike aftermath: Recycling-catchup pickup for some this Saturday

FIRST REPORT, 3:48 PM: Just announced by Seattle Public Utilities – If the Waste Management strike caused you to miss a recycling pickup on Monday 7/30, Tuesday 7/31, or Thursday 8/2, you will get a catch-up recycling pickup THIS SATURDAY (8/11).

ADDED 5:26 PM: Susan Stoltzfus from SPU answered a couple questions we sent her after they were raised in the comment section, regarding next week’s schedule, plus a question regarding whether the catchup pickups are costing the city extra – and, she adds a reminder:

Regular collections for all customers are expected next week for garbage, food and yard waste, and recycling.

Our contract with Waste Management does not pay for overtime for drivers.

We would also like to remind your readers that the performance fees being assessed will be coming back to customers affected by the strike. We still have to get the total of the fees and finalize an equitable way to distribute back to the customers. Likely they will see a credit on a future utility bill.

Waste Management post-strike recycling pickup: Mixed messages, explained

Just got some information from Seattle Public Utilities that explains the mixed messages received by Monday and Tuesday pickup customers – with, according to web messages as well as WSB readers’ robocall reports, the city saying “put out all your carts” while Waste Management said “just put out the carts we’d normally pick up on this date.” In response to our inquiry, SPU spokesperson Susan Stoltzfus explains, “Yes – SPU does want you to put out all three carts because we have exercised a part of the Waste Management contract that specifies that we can request that they pick up recycling during a non-recycling week if they missed the collection the week before. We are counting any missed non-recycling week recycling collections in our inspections that lead to the fine assessments.” She adds, “We are counting any missed collections in our inspections that lead to the fine assessments. … While we hope that Waste Management will collect recycling today, if they do not, then we will be counting any missed collections in our inspections that lead to the fine assessments.” And she stresses that you should have EVERYTHING out, because “free unlimited extra curbside collection of garbage and yard waste extends through tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 8.” Bottom line seems to be, if you didn’t get recycling picked up yesterday or today (or previous days post-strike), even if it was not your “regular” day, DO report the missed collections – the SPU website explains how.

Missed Wednesday pickups during Waste Management strike? Put everything out tomorrow

Waste Management hinted at this yesterday, and now we have official word: Wednesday customers, many of whom have missed TWO pickups because of the now-settled strike, can expect catch-up pickups TOMORROW (Saturday). Here’s the announcement from Seattle Public Utilities:

Waste Management garbage, recycling and food/yard waste drivers are working to catch up in Seattle today after Thursday’s settlement of the week-long Teamsters Union strike.

Wednesday customers who were missed for collection this week should put their carts out until 6 p.m. Saturday, August 4 to allow time for collection. Customers will not be charged extra for any additional items placed at the curb.

If your collection is missed, please report it.

Instructions for other customers, includes the following:

Friday Customers:

All carts should be collected today. If not, Leave carts out until 6 p.m. Saturday.

Thursday Customers:

Most recycling pickup was missed yesterday, August 2. Put out all recyclables next Thursday, August 9.

Customers who have been affected by the strike may drop off up to 6 bags of either garbage or yard waste in any combination at either of Seattle’s transfer stations for free, through this weekend. Yard waste should not be in plastic bags. Recycling drop off is always free.

Hours have been extended through Friday at the South Transfer Station: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

SPU will provide updates as needed. Customers with solid waste service issues or concerns may call the Call Center at (206) 684-3000.

Waste Management strike aftermath: Collection, dropoff updates

Followup information is just in from Seattle Public Utilities regarding the now-over Waste Management strike (here’s the Teamsters‘ ratification announcement), and it answers the question we’ve received most frequently since last night – yes, you still have a few days to take trash/yard waste to transfer stations for free. Here’s the full news release from SPU:

Teamsters Local Union No. 117 recycling drivers voted this morning to end their strike against Waste Management, and garbage and food/yard waste collections have resumed across Seattle. The city of Seattle thanked both parties for reaching an agreement. At least partial collection of recycling materials is also expected today.

The mayor said city inspectors are on the streets today, checking for garbage, food/yard waste and recycling that went uncollected yesterday. Fines will be assessed against the company for materials that were missed yesterday. No fines will be levied for materials missed today.

The mayor also announced that, through Sunday, Seattle residents serviced by Waste Management can continue to drop off up to six bags up to six bags of either garbage or yard waste in any combination at the transfer stations — for free. Yard waste should not be in plastic bags. Recycling drop off is always free.

Residents can put out any extra materials that were previously missed, on their next regular collection day, through next Wednesday.

If your collection is missed, please report it.

The mayor also announced that, through Sunday, Seattle residents serviced by Waste Management can continue to drop off up to six bags of either garbage or yard waste in any combination at the transfer stations — for free. Yard waste should not be in plastic bags. This free service will last through this Sunday. Recycling drop off is always free.

Check SPU’s website for station hours, and webcam links. The South Transfer station will be open until will be open until 9 p.m., tonight and Friday.

SPU will provide updates as needed. Customers with solid waste service issues or concerns may call the Call Center at (206) 684-3000.