West Seattle, Washington
14 Monday
(Seattle Public Utilities photo)
Thanks for the tip! The transfer station (aka dump) closest to West Seattle will close for more than three weeks in August, and Seattle Public Utilities is trying to get the word out early. Here’s the announcement they’re circulating today:
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) will temporarily close the South Transfer Station, located at 130 S. Kenyon Street, from August 4 through August 29, 2025, to complete essential safety upgrades and replace the commercial tipping floor used for waste handling. The closure will affect both public customers and account holders. However, contractors will not be impacted.
This critical project involves replacing 35,000 square feet of commercial tipping floor to maintain safe, efficient operations and protect the well-being of staff and the public. The station is expected to reopen Saturday, August 30, 2025, pending construction progress.
Skip a Trip, Plan Ahead, Know Where to Go
During the closure, SPU recommends that customers postpone trips to the transfer station if possible. A list of temporary alternative locations is listed on the website. These locations may have different hours, additional fees, or not accept certain items, so customers are advised to:
*Visit www.seattle.gov/south-transfer-station for a full list of alternative disposal locations by material type and load size.
*Visit the website of the alternative location to verify hours, fees, and items accepted
*Sort and secure loads properly before visiting any alternative facility.
*Bring smaller loads and be prepared for higher-than-usual traffic at other sites.
*Use the “Where Does It Go?” tool online to explore donation, recycling, and curbside collection options.
Additionally, select construction and demolition (C&D) materials must be recycled and cannot be disposed of in Seattle garbage. Materials such as asphalt, bricks, concrete, metal, untreated wood, and gypsum scrap must go to a recycling facility: DTG Hudson St., MCS Recycling, or DTG Renton. Non-recyclable C&D materials can go to WM Eastmont or Black River. Large trailer loads and hydraulic-lift vehicles should use North Transfer Station or WM Eastmont. King County stations at Bow Lake and Renton will accept only small residential loads from Seattle, and may have additional restrictions, such as fees for mattresses and limits on appliance drop-offs. View completed closure guidance and the most up-to-date information on the project timeline, alternative locations, and FAQs at www.seattle.gov/south-transfer-station.
Items Not Accepted at Seattle or King County Transfer Stations:
Radioactive and Hazardous Waste including Oil Paint (and Containers) and Household Chemicals
Ammo, Firearms, Fireworks, Flares, Explosives, Weapons
Sealed Drums, Fuel/Propane/Oil Tanks, Compressed Gas, Fire Extinguishers
Electronics, TVs or Monitors (CRTs)
Furnaces and parts, Wood stoves, Duct work
Asbestos, or material containing asbestos
Dead animals over 15 lbs (call animal control)
SewageSeattle Public Utilities appreciates the community’s patience and cooperation during this necessary closure and encourages everyone to plan ahead, travel light, and dispose smart.
If you haven’t used the transfer station, you might still know it as the huge building just south of the ramp from West Marginal/Holden onto the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge. It was built in the early 2010s.
We’ve been telling you about the Morgan Junction Community Festival, now just hours away, 10 am-2 pm Saturday, in and around Morgan Junction Park! Among the community groups you’ll find there, along with entertainment and business/vendor booths, is Schmitz Park Creek Restore, which sent this announcement for us to share:
Schmitz Park Restore welcomes friends and fans of Schmitz Park to visit our booth and children’s activity center at the upcoming Morgan Junction Community Festival on Saturday June 14, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Schmitz Park Restore, a local nonprofit corporation is working to protect, restore and celebrate Schmitz Preserve Park and to “daylight” its eponymous creek all the way to Alki. Our exhibit will begin at the street entrance on California Ave to Beveridge Place. It will offer children, and their parents, the chance to “imagineer” a walk from Schmitz Park’s Ancient Forest all the way down to Alki Beach. Street chalk drawings will show how Schmitz Park’s artesian creek could one day again meet the sea at Alki Beach and Cove. Free street chalk will be available to allow visitors to draw in the fish, birds and other critters and plants that could then make their homes in Schmitz Preserve Park. We will also have booths and tables chockfull of information about the Park and Schmitz Park Restore and its “Ivy League” activities to save West Seattle’s Ancient Forest For further details and information visit www.schmitzparkcreekrestore.org; write to schmitzparkcreekrestore@gmail.com, or phone 206 935 8139.
It’s been more than a year since Schmitz Park Creek Restore debuted their dream (WSB coverage here).
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If you live, work, shop, study, or travel through Fauntleroy, you should be paying attention to the upcoming project to replace and expand the Fauntleroy Creek culvert beneath 45th SW.
So far, the Fauntleroy Community Association fears, not enough people are, despite the inevitability that, as FCA president Frank Immel observed last night, “it’s going to be a real mess in the community.”
Above is our recording of last night’s hour-long meeting with the latest information about the project, presented by Seattle Public Utilities, hosted by the FCA as the first half of its regular monthly board meeting. Anticipating stronger community interest, FCA moved the meeting to a big room at The Hall at Fauntleroy and set out dozens of chairs – but only a handful were filled.
Here’s the slide deck used for the briefing (plus a few pages at the end regarding the California culvert, on which work will start no sooner than 2028, after 45th is complete). Briefing toplines:
We reported last month about the King County Wastewater Treatment District’s new plans for West Seattle and South Seattle, including a 7-million-gallon-plus overflow storage tank off West Marginal Way SW. It’s meant to reduce overflows of combined sewage and stormwater into the Duwamish River. If you have questions about that or other parts of the “Mouth of the Duwamish” project, the drop-in session mentioned last month is coming up – here’s the reminder we received:
King County has proposed a solution to control overflows from five combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls at the mouth of the Duwamish River. The proposed solution to improve water quality in the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay includes a new wet weather treatment station in SODO and a new storage tank in West Seattle (Industrial District West). It also includes a new outfall for cleaned water, supporting facilities, and new pipes to connect flows along the way.
Now that we have a proposed solution, we will prepare an engineering report for review by the Washington State Department of Ecology. We will also start the design phase and environmental review.
-Share your questions with the project team
-Attend one of our upcoming drop-in sessions to share your feedback, questions, and concerns.–SODO Home Depot Drop-In: Tuesday, June 10, from 10 a.m. to noon at 2701 Utah Ave. S.
–Delridge Community Center Drop-In: Thursday, June 12, from 10 a.m. to noon at 4501 Delridge Way S.W.Can’t make it? We still want to hear from you! Connect with our team in one of the following ways:
Find us at an upcoming event:
–Georgetown Carnival: Saturday, June 14, from noon to 6 p.m., on Airport Way South between South Lucile Street and South Vale Street.
–Duwamish River Festival: Saturday, August 2, from noon to 5 p.m., at 8700 Dallas Ave. S.
-Contact Bibiana Ocheke-Ameh at dwetweafacilities@kingcounty.gov or (206) 477-5604 to have a one-on-one conversation or invite us to a meeting hosted by your group or organizationVisit kingcounty.gov/MDWetWeatherFacilities to learn the latest updates about the project, access all project materials, and sign up for email updates. If you have suggestions for other ways we can work with you and your neighbors, please let us know!
See a fact sheet about the plan here.
The ferry dock replacement/expansion isn’t the only major infrastructure project ahead for the Fauntleroy neighborhood. Seattle Public Utilities continues to plan two major replacement/expansion projects for Fauntleroy Creek‘s underground culvert sections, one beneath 45th SW north of the Endolyne business district, one beneath California SW in the Fauntleroy Church vicinity. Just announced: The Fauntleroy Community Association is hosting a meeting next Tuesday (June 10) to get updates from SPU and facilitate Q&A about the projects’ status. FCA’s announcement says they’re expecting about 25 minutes of presentation, 25 minutes of Q&A, and also “an update from the team working on the emergency repair efforts on the California culvert.” This coincides with the FCA’s regular 6 pm second-Tuesday board meeting, but will be in a larger venue to accommodate more attendees, the Emerald Room at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW), all welcome.
That’s the Highland Park area where Seattle Public Utilities plans to install the project known as the Holden Natural Drainage Systems. It’s now reached a design milestone, and construction could start before the year ends. With that in mind, SPU has announced a drop-in info session for a week from tomorrow:
The Holden Natural Drainage Systems (NDS) Project has reached final design. SPU will build natural drainage systems, also known as roadside rain gardens or bioretention, on SW Holden St between 16 th Ave SW and 17 th Ave SW. The NDS will capture and treat stormwater runoff before it reaches Longfellow Creek and Puget Sound. The goal of the project is to improve water quality in the creek, increase landscaping diversity, and provide roadway and pedestrian safety improvements. Construction is anticipated to start in late 2025. To learn more about this project, please visit our website.
Spring Drop-In Session:
Time & Date: Saturday, May 31, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: BedHead Coffee, 1513 SW Holden St
Contact: Wan-Yee Kuo, Project Manager, at Wan-Yee.Kuo@seattle.gov or 206-684-3957The drop-in session will provide an opportunity for community members to learn about the final design, what to expect during construction, and ask questions and share comments with members from the project team.
Three days before that, the project will also be on the agenda for next Wednesday’s HPAC meeting, 6:30 pm at Delridge Library (5423 Delridge Way SW). The NDS project has already been in the planning phase for almost three years.
King County Wastewater Treatment continues working on ways to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) into local waterways. One of its next projects is a million-gallon storage tank in southeast West Seattle, near the 1st Avenue South Bridge, to protect the Duwamish River. And now it’s proposing another, much-bigger storage tank, also along the Duwamish’s west shore in West Seattle further north. It’s part of this announcement today:
King County has proposed a solution to control overflows from five combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls at the mouth of the Duwamish River. The proposed solution to improve water quality in the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay includes a new wet weather treatment station in SODO and a new storage tank in West Seattle. It also includes a new outfall for cleaned water, supporting facilities, and new pipes to connect flows along the way.
Now that we have a proposed solution, we will prepare an engineering report for review by the Washington State Department of Ecology. We will also start the design phase and environmental review.
This update circulated today had a few more details – including a construction timeline that’s still at least four years away. We asked KCWTD spokesperson Akiko Oda about the size and location proposed for the new megatank; she replied that it would be “Approximately 7.5 million gallons of combined stormwater and wastewater,” on a site at 4034 West Marginal Way SW [map], owned by King County, though Oda added, “We still need to secure right-of-way easements for the conveyance pipes. Details for the tank capacity and easements will be finalized in the engineering report to the Washington State Department of Ecology, which is anticipated for March 2026.” Ways to find out more: Online here, and/or in person at a drop-in info session at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW), 10 am-noon Thursday, June 12.
(April 26 WSB photo by Jason Grotelueschen)
As we get ready for Saturday’s “person-to-person recycling” during West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, we have a followup on our area’s most-recent dropoff recycling event, Fauntleroy Church‘s spring Recycle Roundup. Judy Pickens just sent the numbers, and the fall date:
On April 26, nearly 400 “donors” brought just shy of 10 tons of electronics, appliances, and other products to the spring Recycle Roundup at Fauntleroy Church. The congregation’s zero-waste partner, 1 Green Planet, is now repairing what can readily be reused and reclaiming the rest for new products.
Since 2010, these free community events have kept 374 tons of valuable resources out of landfills. Volunteers and crew will be back for the fall roundup on Saturday, Sept. 20. Watch for details here, starting in mid-August.
ORIGINAL MONDAY REPORT: Thanks to the texter who sent that photo of city and contractor crews along the east end of Sylvan Way (north of The Home Depot) earlier today. They were there for an encampment on Longfellow Creek. Not long after receiving the photo/tip, we went over for a firsthand look, but the last crew was leaving. The nearby Vietnamese Cultural Center and others have voiced concerns about the encampment; we checked with the city Unified Care Team to find out exactly what was happening today, and spokesperson Kate Jacobs replied, “The Unified Care Team deep-cleaned an area today in Longfellow Creek Greenspace at Sylvan Way SW by removing accumulated trash and debris related to an unauthorized encampment. UCT will provide ongoing trash mitigation to reduce the public impact of this site until a full resolution can be completed. Simultaneously, outreach teams continue engagement efforts as they work to connect individuals with shelter and supportive services that meet their needs.”
ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: We asked Jacobs about a timeline for the “full resolution.” Her reply today: “The Longfellow Creek Greenspace is scheduled for resolution in the next 3-4 weeks. We do not provide specific resolution dates in advance, since schedules are subject to change based on a variety of factors including site conditions and resources. UCT will provide ongoing trash mitigation to reduce the public impact of this site until the resolution is complete.”
(WSB photo by Jason Grotelueschen)
That’s Sara Smith, coordinating Fauntleroy Church‘s long-running twice-yearly Recycle Roundup for the first time today, and excited about it! The church’s partner in the free dropoff event, 1 Green Planet, has two trucks ready to fill, and reinforcements waiting in the wings.
Just drive, ride, or walk up to the dropoff spot in the church’s lot at 9140 California SW before 3 pm. Sooner rather than later, so they don’t wind up with a last-minute backup! The list of what they will and won’t take is here.
2:15 PM: WSB’s Jason Grotelueschen sends that photo taken about half an hour ago, as Recycle Roundup approached its final hour, and reports, “Volunteers say things are going well, traffic slowed down around lunchtime, but has now picked up in the final hours. Still ample space for your treasures!” But 3 pm is closing time.
(Photos courtesy Seattle Dive Tours)
Those are some of the volunteers who removed almost 400 pounds of junk from the water and shore of Elliott Bay off Seacrest last Sunday morning. You’ll recall the West Seattle Water Taxi started late for the day while Seattle Dive Tours led its annual cleanup beneath and around the surface. We asked SDT about the results; they sent these photos and the wrapup:
The clean up went swimmingly. The final weight total for the cleanup was 384.8 lbs! Some item-total highlights are more than 450 cigarette butts, 72 aluminum cans, 5 shoes (including a matching pair of rain boots), 4 cell phones, over 100 fishing lures, and of course the ebike and shopping cart! If you include all the tiny pieces of plastic, it was over 1000 items picked up.
We ended up having 19 shore volunteers, and 14 diver volunteers.
SDT’s Scott Flaherty adds, “We thank all of the volunteers, especially a great number of local shore volunteers and coordination with A Cleaner Alki. Additionally, we always want to recognize Marination Ma Kai for the use of their dumpster to handle the debris.”
(WSB photo, April 2024)
Among the many things happening in West Seattle tomorrow is one that needs some preparation to get ready for, so we’re reminding you one more time that Saturday (April 26) is when Fauntleroy Church hosts the next twice-yearly Recycle Roundup. See the official list of what they will and won’t accept by going here. The Recycle Roundup is a free drive-up/ride-up/walk-up event in the church lot at 9140 California SW, 9 am-3 pm, with longtime recycling partner 1 Green Planet.
Toward the bottom of that rendering is a depiction of the future solar array planned by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Admiral. The church is announcing the plan on Earth Day:
St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, located adjacent to West Seattle High School, will be joining the ranks of other local, recently installed solar projects, such as South Seattle College and Highline High School, with an installation to go live later this year. Once complete, the solar panels will provide 100 percent offset of the church’s annual energy consumption while also delivering to Seattle City Light more renewable energy to meet the rising demand for power, especially during peak usage. The solar panels are one of several infrastructure upgrade projects to be funded by St. John the Baptist’s capital campaign – ‘Building Our Legacy of Hope’ – that kicked off earlier this year. The capital campaign, chaired by West Seattle resident and St. John’s member Jeana Frazier, was launched this month with the goal of raising $800,000. The campaign will conclude in early June.
“Installing solar panels, particularly given how much sun our south-facing roof receives, made so much sense and is consistent with our pledge to reduce our carbon footprint and be a responsible neighbor,” said Reverend Elise Johnstone, rector of St. John’s. “And improvements to our building mean we can continue to be a welcoming place for worship and community gatherings, contributing to this vibrant West Seattle community.”
Currently, the church provides space for Endolyne Children’s Choir, WSHS Friday Football dinners, Alcoholics Anonymous, and will become the temporary space for Admiral UCC Church as they redevelop their North Admiral property into housing and new church/community spaces.
St. John’s solar installation will be done by Solterra, after the church completes roof work that has to be finished first.
Before volunteers start digging into their work at the twice-yearly Duwamish Alive! events, organizers usually lead an opening ceremony at one of the sites on the river. Our photo above is from Saturday’s gathering at həʔapus Village Park, where longtime Seattle Public Utilities fish biologist Katherine Lynch was honored as a “Green-Duwamish Champion.” Joining in the recognition at the port-owned park were Seattle Port Commissioners Hamdi Mohamed and Fred Felleman, and photographer Tom Reese, who has documented the Duwamish (and whose photo graces the award plaque). Sharon Leishman of the Duwamish Alive Coalition presented the award to Lynch – one of just a few to receive the honor:
As Leishman and Lynch both explained, her work focused on, and in, urban streams, such as West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek, as discussed in a 2023 Duwamish Longhouse event (WSB coverage here) at which they and Reese all spoke. Meantime, the port commissioners also received gifts of gratitude, after voicing their appreciation for the volunteers’ work helping the river heal:
Once the speeches wrapped up, volunteers gathered at this park and more than half a dozen other sites to get briefed and start their work.
If you missed the chance to volunteer during this Duwamish Alive! day, watch here for word of the fall edition – and keep an eye on sites like this and this for other cleanup and restoration opportunities all year long.
WSB photos by Dave Gershgorn
In honor of Earth Day, this was a day for hundreds of people to dig into restoration and cleanup work in some of West Seattle’s greenspaces, particularly the watershed of the Duwamish River. Some of them joined the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association – DNDA – at Pigeon Point Park, to celebrate a longtime partnership and the legendary woman who launched it:
Nancy Whitlock founded the environment-and-art focused Nature Consortium in 1998 and led it until a decade ago. It’s now part of DNDA, which “revived” Nature Consortium – with Whitlock on hand – for today’s volunteer event at a site where it hosts many work parties each year
DNDA’s announcement of today’s event explained, “This year is the 20th anniversary of the Green Seattle Partnership. The milestone has prompted reflection on all that has been accomplished by tens of thousands of volunteers over the decades, and it felt like a natural occasion to highlight all that was accomplished under the Nature Consortium banner.”
(Volunteer Emily Grayson, chopping through roots obstructing a trail)
DNDA continues the work that Whitlock began, “connecting people, arts, and nature.” And that was in evidence as volunteers dug into their tasks this morning, with arts and music to be part of the event too.
(Volunteer Alex Tranum, chopping through blackberry vines)
Today also was the multi-site Duwamish Alive! volunteering event, and we’ll have coverage from one of its sites a bit later.
Two quick reminders about free services the next two Saturdays that can help with your spring cleaning:
(WSB photo, 2023 event)
FREE SHREDDING TOMORROW: Saturday (April 19) brings the annual shredding event in the northwest Westwood Village parking lot, offered by John L. Scott Westwood Real Estate-The Madrona Group (WSB sponsor), 9 am-noon. Shredding is free, but if you can, bring food/money to donate to the White Center Food Bank.
RECYCLE ROUNDUP ON APRIL 26: Then one week from tomorrow, 9 am-3 pm Saturday, April 26, it’s the spring edition of Fauntleroy Church‘s Recycle Roundup – free dropoff recycling for electronics and much more. Here’s the newest list of what will and won’t be accepted. Drive/ride/walk up to the church lot at 9140 California SW (but don’t wait until the last hour unless you absolutely can’t make it any sooner – they want to avoid a big crowd at closing time).
(WSB photo, April 2024)
Last year, John L. Scott Westwood Real Estate/The Madrona Group (WSB sponsor) shredded almost two tons of paper during their free shredding event at Westwood Village. We just got word they’re offering free shredding again this year, and again it’ll be part of a donation drive for White Center Food Bank. Just bring your shredding – and a donation of nonperishable food and/or money – to the northwest area of the Westwood Village parking lot between 9 am and noon on Saturday, April 19. (And if you have friends in the north/east metro area, take note that – as also shown on this flyer – they’re presenting a 1-4 pm shredding event in Kenmore the same day.)
(WSB file photo)
Another new date for completion of the Morgan Junction EV-charging lot between Fauntleroy Way and SW Morgan, north of 42nd. This time it comes from District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka, who says City Light is now projecting the long-planned eight-charger lot will be open for use in April of next year – still a year away. While his newsletter – and the City Light memo it links to – describe this as an “acceleration,” it is not; the last update from City Light, just a few months ago at the Morgan Community Association‘s January 2025 meeting, said the lot was expected to be ready to go in fall of this year. And that of course was just the latest of multiple delays; we’ve been reporting on this project since its inception, and when the proposal first came to light in early 2022, SCL said construction could start as soon as fall of that year.
If you didn’t get to the recent West Seattle shredding/recycling event … or have amassed need-to-shred paper since then … Seattle Parks has just announced an event ahead:
On Saturday, April 5, from 10:30 am-1:30 pm, Delridge Community Center will host a paper shredding event. Get rid of confidential documents securely! Please remove paper clips and staples. Limit 2 garbage bags per car. Recommended $10 donation to support Delridge CC’s programs.
Delridge CC is at 4501 Delridge Way SW. One more thing: Parks says this is for residents, not businesses.
(WSB photo from last fall’s Recycle Roundup)
One month from today – on Saturday, April 26 – Fauntleroy Church hosts the next twice-yearly Recycle Roundup. We have the official list of what they will and won’t take this time – see it here. This is a free drive-up/ride-up/walk-up event in the church’s lot at 9140 California SW, 9 am-3 pm, in partnership with 1 Green Planet.
(WSB file photo)
Twice a year, the mega-work parties for Duwamish Alive! – spring and fall, assisting the watershed of Seattle’s only river – fill up fast. So here’s an early heads-up that you can register right now for your choice of volunteering locations that’ll be part of the spring Duwamish Alive! on Saturday, April 19, 10 am-2 pm. As you can see on the Duwamish Alive! main page, there are locations in West Seattle as well as other areas in the watershed, from South Seattle to Tukwila. Some sites are habitat restoration, some are cleanups, and as usual, you even choose the option of signing up to remove debris from the river itself from your kayak.
Story by Judy Pickens
Photos by Dave Gershgorn
For West Seattle Blog
School salmon releases will start soon on Fauntleroy Creek, and student research this week confirmed that coho fry that drift down to the lower creek, as well as “home-hatch” fry from last fall’s spawning there, will likely find food.
Two dozen fourth graders from <strong>Louisa Boren STEM K-8 did the annual count of stonefly exoskeletons in the spawning reach on Tuesday to continue research that’s been going on since 2000. Stonefly larvae crawl out of the creek this time of year, shed their exoskeletons, and fly for a short mating season.
The students’ count suggests how clean the water is and how much food is available for fry. The study also gives young researchers experience in following scientific protocol. They found 25 exoskeletons in the study area, compared with 16 last year. Torso size ranged from 3 cm to 4 cm, which was similar to 2024.
Led by Shannon Ninburg, volunteer educator with the Fauntleroy Watershed Council, the field trip also included a chance to see hundreds of fry from last fall’s spawning, as well as the first smolt documented leaving the creek this spring for saltwater.
If you have questions about the Alki Standby Generator Project – toward the south end of the Alki Point Healthy Street’s Beach Drive stretch – you can get answers during an “informational meet and greet” just announced for next Monday, March 24:
Are you interested in learning more about upcoming construction in your neighborhood? Please join us for an informational meet and greet at Constellation Park on Monday, March 24.
Members of the project team will be onsite to answer your questions and provide an overview of upcoming construction work this spring. The meet and greet will be followed by an optional site walk for those interested in seeing how crews will move throughout the neighborhood along the conduit route.
Event details:
WHEN: Monday, March 24, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Constellation Park (Beach Dr SW and 63rd Ave SW)The meet and greet will start at Constellation Park, then move along the construction work area.
We are hosting this rain or shine. Please dress for the weather accordingly. We hope you can join us!
The project is meant to make the pump station at 63rd/Beach more outage-resistant and therefore less overflow-prone.
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