West Seattle, Washington
10 Monday
7:02 PM: A reader texted us that photo late today, saying the state Department of Ecology was investigating a reported fuel spill into Longfellow Creek at the West Seattle Golf Course. “Dead fish and odor in the creek on the 12th hole,” the text said. We contacted an Ecology spokesperson, who had not heard about it; since then, Seattle Public Utilities has tweeted, “Vandalism of an approximately 250-300-gallon gasoline storage tank has caused a fuel spill at City of Seattle’s West Seattle Golf Course. Gasoline has reached Longfellow Creek. SPU’s Spill Response team is on site and coordinating with (Ecology).” More as we get it.
7:51 PM: Just talked with the Ecology spokesperson we originally spoke with earlier, Ty Keltner, as well as with SPU spokesperson Sabrina Register. Keltner said Seattle Parks first discovered the spill early this morning, then contacted SPU, and notified Ecology this afternoon. A cleanup contractor already has been hired, they said, and they confirmed that dead fish were found and so the Department of Fish and Wildlife is involved in the investigation. Register said the cleanup and SPU personnel have booms out and will be on scene overnight; she’s not sure exactly how much got into the creek and how much of the fuel was stolen, but she says Parks recovered about 70 gallons.
9:13 PM: Our original tipster says they first reported this to Parks after noticing it while walking the golf course this morning. They shared a photo of what they described as the area where the tank is, by the golf course’s maintenance shed:
“The gas was flowing from there and then into the catch basin by the 18th tee box,” they said.
12:25 PM SATURDAY: We’re working on a detailed followup (coming up separately later this afternoon) after talking with SPU at the spill site and seeing cleanup crews at the creek. Not much additional information yet but cleanup work continues.
They still don’t know exactly how much got into the creek. pic.twitter.com/tmWqnDskAV
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) January 18, 2020
No snow yet, but it’s been breezy, with “king tides,” and late today, we got two separate reports of debris washed up at Constellation Park south of Alki Point. The photo above is from Chaucer, who says, “An expensive-looking floating platform bigger than a queen size mattress has washed ashore at Charles Richey Sr Viewpoint.” The photo below is also from Constellation Park, sent by Chemine, who reports: “There is a large chunk of styrofoam attached to concrete that is washed up on the beach. … It is eroding and distributing pieces of styrofoam all over the beach.”
This comes wtth high “king tides” – nearly 13 feet tomorrow just after 7 am. Here’s what you can do about major beach debris. For Seattle Parks beaches, you can notify Parks for starters – the 24-hour maintenance-request line is 206-684-7250. As mentioned in our coverage of a beach cleanup last year, you also can report beach debris via the MyCaast app.
From the “you asked, so we asked” file: The case of the “Admiral Way tree massacre,” as it was described by Doug, who sent that photo. We’ve received numerous inquiries about the half-cut trees, which are on Seattle Parks-owned land on the slope over the downhill side of Admiral at 34th [map]. So we asked Parks, whose spokesperson Rachel Schulkin researched it with the department’s forestry staff and tells WSB:
Those trees were removed as they were either dead or declining and were posing unacceptable risk.
That project is not complete. Winter storms have interrupted a lot of our planned work, including this project. Our plan is to return in the next couple weeks to reduce most of the remaining tree stems to ground level. A few appropriately placed stems will be left as wildlife habitat. Performing this remaining work will not need traffic control like the previous work did.
Besides the site’s high visibility along Admiral Way, it also attracted notice given its proximity to the city-owned land where ~150 trees were illegally cut four years ago.
3:17 PM: Schulkin has just sent this update: “We had time today and finished this project. We lowered all the stems except a few that we left for wildlife habitat.”
Back in October, the city announced a big home-recycling change – no more plastic bags/wrap in your cart/bin. Now that the new year has begun, the change is in effect, so Seattle Public Utilities has sent this reminder, including best practices for how to handle what you CAN still recycle via pickup:
With the start of a new year, the King County Solid Waste Division and Seattle Public Utilities remind residents that recycling right is one of the best resolutions they can make to protect the environment and make recycling effective. Recycling right means keeping plastic bags and wrap out of curbside recycling bins and carts, and making sure all recycling is empty, clean and dry.
As of Jan. 1, garbage and recycling collection programs no longer accept plastic bags and plastic wrap in curbside recycling carts and bins.
Instead, customers should take those separated materials to one of the more than 100 drop-off locations in King County where these materials can be properly recycled. This includes plastic retail bags, sandwich bags, produce bags, dry cleaning bags, and the plastic wrap around bundled toilet paper and paper towels.
Find the full list of materials accepted at drop-off locations and a directory of drop-off locations at plasticfilmrecycling.org. King County and SPU are working to expand drop-off locations that accept plastic bags and plastic wrap for recycling.
While bringing plastic bags and wrap to a drop-off location is best for the environment, customers in Seattle and King County also can throw them in the garbage. It’s better to toss them out rather than contaminate other collected recyclables.
Plastic bags and wrap are often wet or have food waste on them when placed in the curbside recycling and contaminate other materials. Additionally, at recycling facilities, these plastics can jam sorting and processing equipment, leading to frequent shutdowns so workers can remove the tangled materials.
Bringing plastic bags and wrap to a drop-off location keeps the bundled recyclables cleaner and easier to manufacture into new products.
Other ways to recycle right include:
• Make sure your recycling is empty, clean, and dry before putting it in the recycling bin;
• When in doubt, find out – check your city or recycling collection company’s guidelines on which materials are recyclable and which are garbage; and
• Always recycle empty, clean, and dry plastic bottles, tubs, and jugs; paper; glass bottles and jars; metal cans; and cardboard.Find more information at these websites:
· Drop-off locations for plastic bags and wrap
· Seattle Public Utilities information on plastic bags and plastic wrap
Local dropoff locations listed via the lookup include Admiral and Roxbury Safeways and Westwood Village Target. The private service Ridwell offers home pickup of plastic wrap/film/bags, too.
We’re not suggesting you rush it out the door, but make sure your tree doesn’t stay up so long that it’s in danger of this …
When you’re ready to part ways with it, here’s the city announcement for this year’s schedule, and more:
Seattle Public Utilities encourages Seattle residents to compost their Christmas trees and other holiday greens for free through January 31, 2020. Residents should place trees or bundled greens next to their food and yard waste cart on their collection day. Apartment residents may place two trees next to each food and yard waste cart on each collection day. Trees must be cut into lengths of four feet or less and all decorations, lights, tinsel, and other decorations must be removed.
In addition to curbside collection, Seattle residents may drop off trees and other holiday greens for free at SPU’s north or south transfer stations through January 31. Stations will accept up to three trees per vehicle.
Recycle Your Holidays: Composting Christmas trees is just the beginning when it comes to holiday recycling. Many common holiday items can be recycled or reused. Customers can find out how to cut down on the amount of holiday waste that ends up in the landfill by checking SPU’s Where Does It Go Tool: www.seattle.gov/util/myservices/wheredoesitgo.
The photo is from a recent tree-safety demonstration presented by SFD (who provided the image) and other departments. While your tree is still up, follow the safety advice!
P.S. If you have Wednesday-Friday trash/recycling collection, remember it slides a day this week and next. (Mondays/Tuesdays remain on schedule.)
As you’ve probably heard, the rainfall this past day-plus is record-setting, 3+ inches. Besides ponding on roads and sidewalks, and turning the ground spongy, there’s one other effect of note: Waterway pollution. The framegrab is from this online map that tracks whether county and city outfalls are experiencing “combined-sewer overflows” – and the ones marked in red were doing just that when we checked just after the top of the hour, including outfalls south of the Fauntleroy ferry dock, along Harbor Island, and on the Duwamish River. The combined-sewer system refers to rainwater draining into the sewer system at such a volume that it overwhelms the system’s capacity. Both the city and county have built projects in recent years – like the Murray Wet Weather Facility across from Lowman Beach Park – to try to reduce the frequency and amount of overflows, but some still happen. In addition to facilities like the one at Lowman that store water until it can be released into the system without an overflow, other projects have sought to relieve the burden on the system by other means such as raingardens and retention ponds.
P.S. Though you can’t stop the rain, you can lessen the effect of stormwater pollution – both CSO-related and the kind that drains directly to local waterways – by following advice like this.
That’s one of the new electric-vehicle “fast chargers” that Seattle City Light is making available for public use in SODO, just off the West Seattle Bridge, and similar to the ones it will install soon in The Junction. First, the SODO announcement:
Seattle City Light announced the launch of five city-owned electric vehicle (EV) chargers at the utility’s South Service Center in SODO, with plans for at least four additional locations in 2020. The publicly accessible stations are part of a pilot program to install 20 EV fast chargers throughout the utility’s service area and supports the city’s Drive Clean Seattle initiative, which centers on delivering community-focused transportation solutions.
“The new charging stations are part of a larger transportation electrification strategy that will allow us to leverage our clean electricity and reach the city of Seattle’s goals of reducing carbon emissions by 2050,” said Debra Smith, General Manager and CEO of Seattle City Light. “This pilot will help us understand the impacts of EV charging on the electrical system as we lay the groundwork to support electrifying all modes of transportation, from passenger vehicles to buses, the Port of Seattle, heavy-duty vehicles and ferries.”
City Light also announced changes to charge fees at utility-owned public EV fast charging stations. Users will be charged $0.31 or $0.17 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in Seattle (dependent upon the time of day). Previous fees were listed at $0.43 per kWh. The cost-to-charge can change based on the charger’s location and the time of day. At a City Light fast charger, a typical electric car can charge up to 50 kWh in an hour, providing battery power for about 165 miles. This charge would cost approximately $15.88 during “Daytime” hours or $8.69 during “All Other Hours” in Seattle.
“The reduced fees come at a time when City Light is developing a Transportation Electrification Plan that will identify priorities for the utility’s investments in increasing equitable access to electric transportation, reducing carbon emissions, and bringing value to the electric grid and City Light customers,” said Emeka Anyanwu, City Light’s Energy Innovation and Resources Officer.
This new fee structure ensures City Light stays competitive with other EV charging stations in the Seattle area. The charging fees will allow the utility to recover our operating, capital and energy costs over the lifespan of the charging equipment.
Learn more about City Light’s EV programs by visiting seattle.gov/light/electric-vehicles.
Now, about the upcoming West Seattle charging stations – as reported here last spring, they’re planned on 39th SW south of SW Oregon, by West Seattle Bowl. SCL’s project map says they’re expected to be up and running in March.
That’s one of many dug-up planting strips we’ve noticed lately. You might have caught crows in the act of doing the digging; one reader asked us recently why they were “tilling.” By chance, we found the answer while covering this month’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting for our smaller site White Center Now. Marta Olson from the King County Noxious Weed Program was asked about it while talking to NHUAC about an unrelated topic. The crows are after “chafer beetles,” she explained, describing those bugs as invasive non-natives that have been spreading after first turning up near Sea-Tac. We hadn’t heard that before, so we’ve been researching. Here’s some scholarly info from just north of the border. The basic explanation is that the beetle’s larvae love grass roots, and crows – among others – find the larvae irresistibly delicious.
The photos and report are courtesy of Seattle Dive Tours:
On December 1st, more than 30 volunteers braved the cold temperatures and the forecasts of snow showers to protect marine wildlife from dangerous underwater debris in Puget Sound.
SR3 and Seattle Dive Tours coordinated the event to clean under the pier at Seacrest Marina Park that is generally off limits to divers. The upper pier was closed to fishermen and spectators to ensure the safety of the volunteers.
Divers entered the water in three shifts to remove marine debris lurking below the surface of the Salish Sea. Additional volunteers on the dock sorted through the debris and documented the weight and types of debris found. This data will be uploaded to larger, worldwide datasets in order to reveal the greatest threats around the world.
Over 420 pounds of debris were removed in this short cleanup! This included over 300 fishing lures, five lighting systems used for squid fishing, four traffic cones, six abandoned crab pots, a lot of plastic cutlery, many mobile phones, and multiple tires.
This event could not have been done without the partnership of our hardy volunteers, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the King County Water Taxi (Department of Metro Transportation, Marine Division). We look forward to continuing and expanding this event in the future.
This video from a volunteer participant includes a longer look at what was brought up:
(Photo courtesy Healthy Lands Project)
While next weekend jingles with many possibilities for holiday fun, there’s also an opportunity for giving that won’t cost you anything but a little time: Saturday will bring a volunteer planting party to Seola Pond (30th SW/SW 105th; map), in support of the long-running community-led work to restore it. The Healthy Lands Project invites you to “come and get hands-on experience planting native shrubs and trees and removing weeds with your neighbors to help make the green space a better place for people and nature.” It’s happening 10 am-1 pm Saturday (December 7th). You’ll get lunch and “warm beverages”; you’ll also get a free native plant to take home. RSVP here if you think you can help!
(October photo by John McIntyre)
Longfellow Creek … home to salmon … and pollution. The creek runs almost the entire length of eastern West Seattle, from Westwood (where it’s undergrounded) to the Duwamish River. Seattle Public Utilities is planning a water-quality project that would focus on reducing polluted stormwater overflows in the creek during heavy rain. But the project isn’t just about some big public-works facility – it’s also about other potential neighborhood benefits, as detailed here. So right now, they’re recruiting community members for an “Innovation Team,” explained as:
We are building an Innovation Team of nine, paid, community co-creators that reflect the diversity in South Delridge. The Innovation Team will guide and work with the Project Team. Team members will attend up to 8, 2-hour meetings this winter and next spring. The Innovation Team will help us:
• Create innovative solutions to achieve community goals
• Build relationships and community partnerships
• Understand risks when deciding where to make investmentsSome examples of people we are looking for:
• A high school student engaged in design, poetry, filmmaking, or engineering
• A person for whom English is a second language
• Someone who leads an informal group like a women’s group, soccer team, or book club
• Someone who builds things or helps organize activities in the neighborhood
More details here. The original deadline to apply was today, but it’s just been extended through Sunday. Here’s how to apply.
In the week since the annual gathering by Fauntleroy Creek to call the coho home, 13 have responded. You might see one or more of them at the “open creek” happening until 3 pm today. We stopped by and saw one.
Volunteer creek-watchers report one pair has spawned so far in this season of celebrating 25 years since “Harry and Louise,” the creek’s first modern-day spawners following a major restoration project. For today’s open creek, follow the driveway along SW Director just east of upper Fauntleroy [map], and look for the sign pointing you to the stairway down. Whether you get there or not, you can talk with Fauntleroy Watershed Council volunteers during tomorrow’s Fauntleroy Fall Festival (9100 block of California SW), 2-5 pm.
(Joey Baumgartner, photographed by Steve Richmond)
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
After watchers spotted coho spawners struggling to enter Fauntleroy Creek from the beach, the Fauntleroy Watershed Council called on State Fish and Wildlife to assess conditions there and get permission from the reach-to-the-beach property owner for emergency clearing of vegetation choking the channel.
(Spawner in Fauntleroy Creek)
Spawners were hampered by logs on the beach and a thicket of vegetation that was almost impenetrable. Restoration of this reach happened a decade ago but reed canary grass and nightshade soon got a toehold and began spreading. Spurred on by Tuesday’s sighting of 30 robust spawners schooling near the mouth, neighbors, volunteers, and Steve Richmond and Joey Baumgartner with Garden Cycles set to work.
(Steve Richmond, photographed by Dennis Hinton)
“In my opinion, Steve and Joey really saved this spawning season on Fauntleroy Creek,” said council member Dennis Hinton. “Within four hours, they had adjusted logs, cleared vegetation in the channel, and anchored erosion-control fabric where banks needed support. By the end of the day, another dozen spawners were poised to enter the reach and head to spawning habitat.” This work was the first to draw on the Fauntleroy Watershed Stewardship Fund established in 2018 to accept private donations.
You will have a chance to see spawners during an “open creek” on Saturday, noon to 3 pm. Come to the fish-ladder viewpoint at SW Director and upper Fauntleroy Way to catch the eye of a salmon watcher below or come directly down the driveway at 4539 SW Director Place. Dogs must be tightly controlled.
Can’t make the “open creek”? Watershed Council members will be at Sunday’s Fauntleroy Fall Festival (2-5 pm in the church/Y/schoolhouse triangle, 9100 block of California SW) to talk salmon during this “Silver Anniversary” year honoring the first spawners in 1994.
(WSB photo)
ORIGINAL SATURDAY REPORT: Roxhill Bog was one of more than a dozen sites where hundreds of volunteers devoted several hours today to Duwamish Alive! work parties, supporting the river and its watershed. These volunteers were preparing for followup plantings later this fall.
(WSB photo)
Roxhill Bog is where Longfellow Creek begins; it’s chabneled underground until emerging just east of the Chief Sealth International High School campus, and continues north-northeast until emptying into the Duwamish.
P.S. There’s also a spring edition of Duwamish Alive! – watch for word of that early in the year.
ADDED SUNDAY: More, from the Duwamish Alive! Coalition:
The 13th annual fall Duwamish Alive! event was held on Saturday, bringing communities together from Seattle to Auburn, in an effort to restore critical salmon habitat at 19 urban parks and open spaces supporting the environmental health of the river, its salmon, and the endangered Southern Resident Orca. Starting at 10:00 am, hundreds of volunteers worked at multiple locations throughout the Green-Duwamish Watershed in a day of major cleanup and habitat restoration in the ongoing effort to keep the Green- Duwamish River healthy for local communities, salmon, and the Puget Sound orca. The Green-Duwamish River is home to 5 salmon species including the critical Chinook salmon which the Southern Resident Orcas depend upon for food. October is the height of the river’s salmon runs and best viewing.
(Duwamish Alive! Coalition photo)
The returning salmon spawn not only in the river but also in its streams and creeks, including the 3 mile Longfellow Creek which runs from Roxhill Bog, north through Delridge and out to the Duwamish River. Longfellow Creek’s Coho salmon have declined in recent years due to loss of salmon habitat and high levels of pollution in the creek causing pre-spawn mortality. This is where the salmon die before releasing their eggs into the stream bed.
(Duwamish Alive! Coalition photo)
The event focused on improving salmon habitat, with State House Representative Joe Fitzgibbon joining volunteers with King Conservation District to help a local residential owner remove invasive plants along Longfellow Creek which runs through their property in an effort to improve the health of the creek. Also: Planting of trees next to the creek in White Center Heights Park with King County Councilmember Joe McDermott:
(Duwamish Alive! Coalition photo)
And improving the Green Wall in Georgetown which will help reduce air pollution by filtering particulates, and improving salmon habitat along the Green-Duwamish River:
(Duwamish Alive! Coalition photo)
Just announced: A change in what you can put in curbside recycling bins: Plastic bags and film are out as of the start of next year. Here’s the announcement:
Beginning Jan. 1, garbage and recycling collection programs will no longer accept plastic bags and plastic wrap in curbside recycling carts and bins. Instead, customers will be asked to take those separated materials to a drop-off location for remanufacturing or place them in the garbage for disposal.
Plastic bags and wrap are often wet or have food waste on them when placed in the curbside recycling and contaminate other materials. Additionally, at recycling facilities, these plastics can jam sorting and processing equipment, leading to frequent shutdowns so workers can remove the tangled materials.
Bringing plastic bags and wrap to a drop-off location keeps the bundled recyclables cleaner and easier to manufacture into new products.
“Recycling is one of the best ways to protect the environment and fight climate change, but to make it work we have to do it right,” said King County Solid Waste Division Director Pat McLaughlin. “Keeping problem items out of our bins at home will save money because we won’t have to throw out good recyclable materials that get contaminated from dirty plastic bags.”
“Our goal is to ensure what goes into the recycling cart gets recycled at its highest value. We want everyone to Recycle Right,” noted Jeff Fowler, Seattle Public Utilities Solid Waste Deputy Director. “Removing plastic bags and wrap from our curbside recycling mix will have a positive impact on the quality of our other recyclable materials and the efficiency of the facilities that process those materials.”
The changes were recommended by a task force of city, county and solid waste industry representatives that was established to research improvements that could be made to the recycling system following China’s change in allowable levels of contamination in bundled recyclables.
Find plastic bag and wrap drop-off locations at plasticfilmrecycling.org. King County and Seattle Public Utilities are working to expand drop-off locations that accept plastic bags and plastic wrap for recycling.
While throwing plastic bags and wrap in the garbage is the least desirable action, it’s better to toss them out rather than contaminate other recyclables.
The lookup shows dropoff spots in this area include the Admiral and Roxbury Safeways and Westwood Village Target. P.S. For a refresher course on “recycling right” – covering other items too – go here.
That “River for All” is the Duwamish River, and we are now one week away from a simple way for you to show it some love: The fall edition of the one-day-and-many-locations Duwamish Alive! volunteering event is 10 am-2 pm next Saturday (October 19th). More than half a dozen of the sites are in West Seattle; to see the list and find out how to RSVP to help, go to DuwamishAlive.org, or email info@duwamishalive.org
. Just a few hours of your time can give a boost to the river and all who depend on it – animals, plants, and people.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“I have hope that if we work together we can fix it.”
That optimism was voiced by 6th grader Gresham Crone, speaking briefly at the start of the climate-change panel discussion last Tuesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s Walmesley Center.
He had gone to the previous Friday’s Global Climate Strike rally. It was one example of the event’s theme – what you can do about the climate crisis.
The venue itself was another example – a LEED-certified building, as explained in opening remarks by Vince Stricherz, a co-chair of the Green Ministry, which OLG and Holy Rosary started in response to Pope Francis‘s call to care for the planet. The event was also meant in part to look ahead to next year’s 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, and Stricherz recalled some of the flashpoints that led to it.
The panel’s moderator is in fact leading the plan for Earth Day Northwest 2020, Forterra founder Gene Duvernoy.
(2017 photo by Trileigh Tucker)
If you want to help ensure we keep seeing them, set aside a few hours later this month to do this:
(2016 photo by Leda Costa for WSB)
Two weeks from Saturday, it’s the fall edition of
Join Duwamish Alive! this Fall as our salmon are returning in our Duwamish River and Longfellow Creek, with this watershed wide effort in improving the health of our salmon by restoring their habitat which provides food, shelter and cool, clean water that salmon need. Volunteers will be restoring native habitat on in multiple urban parks and open spaces by removing invasive weeds, planting native plants, removing debris and learning about healthy habitat. This is a family-friendly event, all ages welcomed and encouraged.
To volunteer, visit DuwamishAlive.org to see the different volunteer opportunities and register for the site of your choice, or email info@duwamishalive.org
As you’ll see on the Duwamish Alive! link, your options include more than half a dozen sites here in West Seattle, and others elsewhere.
The video is from “Diver Laura” James, who explains:
This is ‘the monster’ (as we dubbed it in 2012), a large stormwater outfall directly off Alki Beach between 55th and 56th street on Alki (NOT the CSO).
This storm drain gets the street runoff from the whole hillside up to Admiral Way. That’s a LOT of polluted stormwater runoff!
We can’t stop the rain, but we CAN reduce the flow of polluted stormwater runoff by following some simple personal actions.
learn more here: www.tox-ick.org
Fauntleroy Church‘s twice-yearly Recycle Roundup is a rain-or-shine event, so don’t let the weather stop you from bringing in your recyclables! 1 Green Planet is at the lot (9140 California SW) to accept a long list of items – see it here (PDF) – until 3 pm, but don’t wait until the last minute; the earlier you go, the faster it’ll be. It’s free but organizers always appreciate donations if you’re able:
Volunteers are also offering info on how/where to recycle items that are not accepted at the Roundup.
Announced this morning by Seattle Public Utilities: “Public Health-Seattle and King County (Public Health) reopened the Duwamish River on Sunday morning to water activities like fishing after test results confirmed acceptable levels.” This comes two days after the announcement that an estimated 320,000 gallons of sewage had spilled into the river because of a blockage blamed on a piece of plywood. The river had been posted as closed to activities from Harbor Island to the Turning Basin.
(WSB photos/video from Explorer West students’ action)
4:52 PM: Students from at least two three local schools participated in today’s Global Climate Strike to demand action against climate change. We followed Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) students as they walked to Roxbury at noontime to hold signs.
We asked one student, sixth-grader Hugh, what he and his classmates hope will happen:
Students from another independent south West Seattle school, Westside School (WSB sponsor), rallied too. Thanks to Jeanne for these next two photos:
The biggest rally in Seattle was this morning at Cal Anderson Park – The Seattle Times estimates 2,500 participants – followed by a march to City Hall for an afternoon gathering.
ADDED 10:59 PM: Taproot School sent photos too:
Taproot’s classrooms are at the fauntleroy Schoolhouse.
11:57 AM: Just received:
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has responded to a sewer overflow that reached the Duwamish River. SPU and Public Health-Seattle & King County (Public Health) are warning the public to refrain from water activities like fishing. Signs are posted from the 16th Ave. S. bridge to the Turning Basin, indicating Public Health’s closure of a roughly 3,000-foot stretch of waterway and shoreline.
SPU received a report about 1 pm Thursday about suspected sewage in a ditch near King County International Airport-Boeing Field. SPU’s Spill Response team reached the site within 30 minutes to investigate the report and conduct testing. After results indicated a sewer overflow, SPU immediately relieved a blockage, caused by a lodged piece of plywood, in a City sanitary sewer line. SPU estimates the total overflow at 320,000 gallons.
SPU also contacted its regulators and partners, including Public Health, WA Dept. of Ecology, WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, City of Tukwila, King Co. Intl. Airport-Boeing Field and local tribes.
SPU will continue sampling until results confirm acceptable levels.
Public Health recommends that people should avoid coming into contact with sewage-contaminated water. If you do get contaminated water on your skin, wash thoroughly with soap and warm water. Health impacts from exposure to sewage primarily include gastrointestinal illness and skin infection. While this sewage spill is being cleaned up, people may want to avoid eating fish from the river. Due to legacy chemical pollution, the lower Duwamish River has had an on-going fishing advisory that recommends only fishing for salmon. Always avoid bottom dwelling seafood species in the lower Duwamish.
The 16th Avenue S. Bridge mentioned above is better known as the South Park Bridge; it crosses the river at 16th on the east side and turns into 14th on the west (South Park) side.
ADDED: SPU sent an “afternoon update” saying the Duwamish River is now posted with warnings all the way north to Harbor Island.
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