(WSB photo, March)
Back in March, a sewer line under Beach Drive near Lowman Beach leaked an estimated tens of thousands of gallons of sewage. Repairs followed. Now, it’s time for more. We happened onto a mention of the project in city permit files; the summary said the repair work “to minimize risk of sewage leak due to pipe failure” might involve part of Lowman Beach Park, which just reopened after the seawall-removal project. So we asked the King County Wastewater Treatment Division for details. Here’s the reply from spokesperson Rachael Hartman:
During (the March) project, crews inspected both pipes that run north under Beach Drive SW from the Murray Avenue Pump Station, located in Lowman Beach Park. They discovered that one of the pipes is severely eroded and needs to be repaired. Our current plan is to install a new liner in the pipe starting in September, schedule dependent on materials delivery and weather.
We are currently planning the work and don’t have the details solidified yet. At this time, the contractor does not believe they will need to use an area of the park for the repair work. If they did need to use an area of the park for their work, it would be a small area near Beach Drive that would not require any park closure. If the contractor needs to use some portion of the right-of-way and take up some street parking along Beach Drive, a permit from SDOT would be obtained. We will have more specific information about the project and possible impacts as early as next week.
The pipe that leaked in March was 27″, according to KCWTD, which handles sewage/wastewater (as opposed to Seattle Public Utilities, which handles water).
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