King County Executive Ron Sims is scheduled to make the final announcement Monday on where to build the $1.4 billion Brightwater sewage treatment plant.
He will make the announcement at the Highway 9 site that has been his preferred alternative for more than a year.
Sims’ notice will be made at 10:30 a.m. at the Bear Creek Grange Hall at Highway 9 and 228th Street SE, just north of Highway 522.
The hall has been the gathering place for nearby residents who oppose the plant being placed there.
King County says it needs to build a third sewage treatment plant by 2010, when the two existing plants are expected to reach capacity.
"It’s not a surprise," said Linda Gray of the Sno-King Environmental Alliance, an anti-Brightwater group. "Before they even started, they knew where they were going to put this. The whole thing’s just been a joke."
King County officially began the search for a Brightwater site in summer 2000. A search team came up with 95 candidates from King and Snohomish counties. Of those, 38 were determined to be "unconstrained," meaning the plant could be built there without serious engineering and environmental concerns.
In May 2001, those 38 were pared down to six — all in Snohomish County. In August 2002, Sims announced that the Highway 9 site and the 53-acre former Unocal property in Edmonds were the two finalist sites, but Highway 9 was his preferred alternative.
Barbara Chase of the Washington Tea Party, an Edmonds group opposed to the Brightwater siting process, said there’s little relief in the realization that the plant likely won’t be built in Edmonds. She said the group will continue to fight to change the law that allows one county to call the shots in another county.
"Our sense of relief would be when it’s the fairest process," Chase said. "We don’t think it’s right, no matter where it’s going to be, that King County has the right to make that decision."
The process has been heavily criticized from the moment the process began. Many critics believe King County deliberately chose sites in Snohomish County for the new plant, and that there hasn’t been enough study of the environmental impact the plant will have.
King County released its final environmental impact statement two weeks ago. Snohomish County officials and consultants, as well as grass-roots Brightwater opponents, are poring over the thousands of pages. They have until Dec. 8 to let King County know whether they plan to appeal part of or the entire document.
Gray of the Sno-King Environmental Alliance said there’s no doubt the group will appeal. There are concerns about the plant’s proximity to earthquake faults, and critics say those concerns haven’t been addressed.
The draft environmental report released in November 2002 was lambasted, with critics demanding a supplemental draft before a final report was released. That didn’t happen.
Instead, King County held three public meetings over the summer to take comments and concerns. In all, the final report includes 5,000 formal comments from 550 people, tribes and government agencies.
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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