Despite some vocal opposition, King County Executive Ron Sims on Monday announced the $1.4 billion Brightwater sewage treatment plant will be built on 114 acres along Route 9, just north of Highway 522.
The site, which has been his preferred alternative for more than one year, has many nearby residents concerned because it sits on top of the Cross Valley aquifer, which provides drinking water to more than 14,000 people in the area.
Sims told a packed house inside the Bear Creek Grange Hall, which sits on what will become part of the plant’s footprint, that Brightwater will be “a good neighbor” once it’s built. He promised that residents will be involved in the design process, and in the development of a learning center on the site, which will provide education about water and the environment.
King County says it needs to build a third sewage treatment plant by 2010, when the two existing plants are expected to reach capacity.
Some resident expressed frustration that King County is able to put such a plant in Snohomish County without answering to voters.
Sims said that 60 percent of the wastewater that Brightwater will process will come from Snohomish County.
“As a result of that, it’s being placed here,” he said.
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