Forum: Residents were left in the dark about Lynnwood’s wastewater treatment expansion

Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 28, 2026

Lynnwood’s planned wastewater treatment plant expansion on Browns Bay is being described as “non-significant.” For nearby residents, that is difficult to reconcile with how the project came to light.

Because this matter is currently pending, I will not address the specifics of the appeal. However, the public process surrounding this project raises broader concerns about notice, transparency, and fairness.

In 2023, the City of Lynnwood issued a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) as part of its General Sewer Plan — a program-level document meant to guide future infrastructure. That plan includes a $330 million expansion in a steep, narrow ravine owned by Lynnwood but surrounded on three sides by Edmonds neighborhoods, with geologically hazardous slopes, a fish-bearing stream, and a nearby Great Blue Heron nesting colony.

In early 2026, many Edmonds residents closest to the plant reported that they were unaware the DNS had been issued, much less that the comment window had closed. Sworn statements indicate that some residents received no direct notice and learned of the project only by word of mouth — including after an elderly couple who had lived in their Edmonds home for decades was contacted by the City of Lynnwood in June 2025 regarding acquisition of their property to accommodate the expansion. By November, they had been relocated under threat of eminent domain.

Residents state that, had they been aware of the opportunity to comment in 2023, they would have participated. Instead, awareness came years later, after key steps in the process had already occurred.

Situations like this raise broader questions about how major public projects are communicated to the people most directly affected, particularly when decisions are advanced through program-level planning processes.

One elderly couple lost their home and their community. Those remaining report being deeply affected by a lack of transparency. Trust in public institutions depends on transparency and fairness, and on ensuring that those most affected have a meaningful opportunity to be informed and involved.

Stephanie MacLachlan lives in Edmonds