The King County Council on Tuesday approved legislation sponsored by Vice Chair Reagan Dunn that tasks King County with examining the system failures that led to the spilling of millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound and Lake Washington on January 13, 2021, and issuing a report offering a set of recommendations for preventing future wastewater spills.
And on Wednesday, the Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee also approved Executive Constantine’s budget request for $65 million in funding to upgrade the West Point Wastewater Treatment plant and prevent further bypasses of untreated wastewater, which will now be sent to the full King County Council. Dunn issued the following statement in response:
“I’m gratified to see all levels of King County government uniting behind the task of fixing the issues at West Point Treatment Plant that have repeatedly caused spills into Puget Sound.
“The cost of inaction on this issue is simply too high. I am hopeful that King County will apply the same urgency to fixing the problems that led to January’s spilling of 2.4 million gallons of stormwater and sewage into Lake Washington from other wastewater facilities, including the Medina, Richmond Beach, and East Pine pump stations.”
