Another review complete for Barton sewer-overflow-control proposal

| Environment | Utilities | West Seattle news

(County map showing where the “green stormwater infrastructure” is proposed for the area feeding the Murray pump station; go here for larger version)
King County says its environmental review is complete for the “green stormwater infrastructure” proposal to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) from the Barton pump station – which is actually a few miles downhill from where the “infrastructure” would be built to hold water. The result: A “determination of nonsignificance.” That’s another hurdle cleared for the proposal. You can see the actual “determination of nonsignificance” here (PDF); comments will be taken through May 31st, and the county wants them postal-mailed to:

Wesley Sprague, Supervisor Community Services and Environmental Planning
King County Wastewater Treatment Division
201 South Jackson Street, MS: KSC‐NR‐0505
Seattle, WA 98104‐3855

The proposal would create “bioswales” to hold rainwater, mostly in planting-strip areas, so it can go into the ground instead of into the sewer system. Dozens of them would be installed at various locations in the Sunrise Heights/Westwood neighborhoods shown in the map above. The proposal was discussed again at a community meeting last month (WSB coverage here).

Nulu May 12, 2011 (8:30 pm)

“As is currently the case, if, during or immediately after a wet weather event, storm water and sanitary sewage flows exceeded the capacity of the combined sewer system in the Barton basin, excess flows would be discharged to Puget Sound untreated through an existing outfall located next to the Barton Pump Station.”
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Wow! So during big storm events the city will continue to overflow raw sewage into Puget Sound and be fined for this.
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“Because of variation in the distribution of permeable and relatively impermeable soils in the project area, increased groundwater levels due to infiltration at bioswales could result in changes to moisture levels in residential yards basements, and crawl spaces on nearby properties.”
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Good luck!
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“6) Does the proposal involve any discharges of waste materials to surface waters? If so, describe the type of waste and anticipated volume of discharge.
No”
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What about polluted street run-off from cars (oil, gas, transmission fluids, antifreeze)?
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” Will ground water be withdrawn, or will water be discharged to groundwater? Give general description, purpose, and approximate
quantities if known.
(ANSWER) Some of the runoff routed to the proposed bioswales would infiltrate and reach groundwater.”
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This last one is incredibly vague, with the “approximate quantities” question just ignored. No mention is made of the natural flow into the Longfellow Creek basin.
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“Circle any birds and animals which have been observed on or near the site
or are known to be on or near the site:
birds: hawk, heron, eagle, songbirds, other:”
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Songbirds were the only bird circled! What about all of the hawks, heron, eagles, ducks, hummingbirds, stellar jays, crows and seagulls regularly seen in this area?
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This environmental review is full of other inconsistencies, even to the casual reader. One example is the grading description of 6″ to 10″, when their cross section shows at least double that.

Nulu May 12, 2011 (8:37 pm)

Another interesting news bit that ties into the Barton Basin scheme was covered by West Seattle Herald.
It is the petition with more than 2,000 signatures against the Murray Basin designated tank site turned in by the son of a property owner that will lose his house across the street from Lowman Park.
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He is claiming that the Lowman Park group was “duped!”
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The article in this weeks edition is an entertaining read.

out for a walk May 12, 2011 (10:52 pm)

This is so sad. The county is charging ahead with the plan they want and ignoring all the comments from the community; and now this… a bogus report on the impacts the CSO bioswales project.
Related to this project is the Murray CSO overflow project where the County is trying to take 6 private properties (and 16 families who live there) by eminent domain so they can site a CSO plant across the street from Lowman Beach Park. Other alternatives exist which the Community Auction Group (CAG) identified last summer which would be better suited to this effort and cost less money.
Folks, get involved! Learn about the issues before we lose the very things we cherish most about West Seattle. If you give the “political types” an inch they will take a mile… and charge us taxes at the same time.

Nulu May 12, 2011 (11:35 pm)

” Other alternatives exist which the Community Auction Group (CAG) identified last summer which would be better suited to this effort and cost less money.” by “out for a walk”
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Hey, “out for a walk,” if other alternatives are better and cost less, then please share them with us.
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The stick it in Lincoln Park plan is not viable for several reasons including the fact that sewage does not run uphill.
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“”The irony is that their preferred alternative was to build in another park not in their community.” She was referring to Lincoln Park.

“We looked at it very seriously. It would require additional pumping, a lot of additional maintenance costs and wouldn’t even solve problem of Lowman Beach. it would be a smaller tank, 60- percent the size (of the current plan).” Pam Elardo, Director, King County Waste Water Division.
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“The 1B Triangle is considered to be a wetland by the city. Also, it is higher than Beach Drive and would require an additional pump station.” Pam Elardo, Director, King County Waste Water Division.
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At least the good people of Morningside Heights and Westwood have not mounted a NIMBY opposition. And they will bare the most burden.

Martin May 20, 2011 (10:57 am)

While I support the idea of bioswales, this is not a good deal for neighborhoods who will receive the green stormwater infrastructure outside their front doors.
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As far as I can see, there is no plan for ongoing maintenance of plants. Homeowners will need to maintain and water those plants–transferring the cost of the project from the County to residents who are not affluent.
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Right now, people can maintain brown grass without watering.

Sorry, comment time is over.