King County and opponents of a sewage treatment plant that county wants to build in south Snohomish County now have something in common.
Both will appeal a court decision earlier this month that approved – with restrictions – King County’s plan to build the Brightwater plant off Highway 9 near Highway 522.
Calling it a pre-emptive move, King County filed its appeal in King County Superior Court last Friday. Sno-King Environmental Alliance followed with its own appeal on Monday, filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
On Aug. 3, King County hearing examiner Jim O’Connor said King County must do additional testing to see if there is an active earthquake fault below its proposed site. However, the judge tossed out the alliance’s claim that the environmental impact statement used to select the site was flawed.
With its appeal, King County charges that O’Connor did not have authority to require that it use a process called “trenching” to see if there is an active fault at the site, said Christie True, Brightwater project director.
Ironically, King County plans to do the trenching anyway; it just filed the challenge to help it fight the alliance and its appeal.
“If you don’t raise certain issues, then you may not be able to raise them in court later,” True said. “We did it as a precautionary maneuver.”
The alliance filed the appeal because it believes the chance that there is an active fault below the Highway 9 site should force King County to consider building its plant elsewhere, spokeswoman Corinne Hensley said.
“Other sites were removed because of earthquake danger,” Hensley said. “Why not this one?”
King County plans to build the plant to the highest available earthquake standards, so the discovery of an active fault below the site would not affect the county’s ability to build a safe plant at the location, True said.
The sewage treatment plant is expected to cost $1.3 billion and is intended to serve future growth in south Snohomish County and north King County. Construction is scheduled to start in 2006, and the plant is expected to open in 2010.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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