West Seattle windstorm aftermath: Lowman Beach cleared to reopen after sewage overflow during power outage

| Environment | West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

(WSB photo: Excavation site at midday today)
As the excavation continues at the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project site across from Lowman Beach Park, another reminder of what the future million-gallon tank is for – King County announced that Saturday night’s windstorm led to a power outage and another overflow from Murray Pump Station, into Puget Sound. ~~We’re still waiting to hear the amount of sewage that~~ (updated) 200,000 gallons of sewage overflowed; county Wastewater Treatment spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson says bacteria levels “were never elevated,” but the beach was closed “as a precaution” and has since reopened. The county brought in a mobile generator to get the pump station back online and stop Saturday night’s overflow; once the entire Murray project is complete, that shouldn’t be necessary either, since the pump station itself is getting a “permanent back-up electrical system” in addition to the huge tank to hold overflows. Right now, the overflow tank site is more than two-thirds of the way into the 60-foot-deep excavation that’s planned for the $26 million project, which is designed to bring the county into compliance with orders to limit overflows to no more than one per year; currently, this pump station averages five.

clark5080 October 29, 2014 (3:13 pm)

Would be interesting to see how they get that equipment out of there

WSB October 29, 2014 (3:24 pm)

They told us, via heavy-duty crane. Not sure if it’s the one on-site now. But that’s supposed to be next week and we’ll certainly do our best to be there (and to provide advance notice) … TR

Jeannie October 29, 2014 (3:31 pm)

The construction site is really quite interesting. And if you have kids, they might be fascinated by the big machines and the giant hole. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe; there’s a tall fence around the site.

clark5080 October 29, 2014 (4:07 pm)

Sounds like a good opportunity for some stop motion or time lapse photography. Unfortunately I no longer work nights so that’s out of the question for me.