In case you wondered too: About the warning signage on Longfellow Creek

| Delridge | Environment | West Seattle news

The photo is from Mark, who asked us Thursday about the “contaminated water” signage that he spotted along Longfellow Creek at the SW Yancy footbridge near the West Seattle Athletic Club. Researching it today, we first checked with Seattle-King County Public Health, whose logo was on the signage. They said it was related to “a small sewage spill (about 100 gallons) at the West Seattle Golf Course. Our understanding is that the spill had gone into a catch basin and some likely spilled into Longfellow Creek,” and that Seattle Public Utilities had put up the signage. SPU told us, “Approximately 100 gallons were released on Wednesday evening, but it was determined that most of the spill was absorbed into the soil,” so the signage on the creek was removed.

pdxmark77 May 10, 2019 (7:58 pm)

I appreciate you looking into that!

Swede. May 10, 2019 (8:11 pm)

Ooh man! That’s my favorite swimming spot! ;-)

Blbl May 10, 2019 (10:06 pm)

100 gallons of sewage is not a small spill.

Neighbor May 11, 2019 (1:18 pm)

How does 100 gallons of sewage get spilled on a golf course in the first place?

rharp May 13, 2019 (9:50 am)

The release of sewage was not related to any activity on the golf course. Part of the sewer line runs underneath a corner of the golf course property and is prone to blockage from tree roots. We spotted a small amount of water coming out of a manhole cover and alerted the Parks department wastewater crew who responded and cleared the blockage. I’m by no means a wastewater expert, but the water coming from the manhole cover was clear and had no odor one would normally associate with raw sewage. Nonetheless, a very small amount may have made its way into a catch basin and then down to Longfellow creek so SPU had to be notified.

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