When the reality of King County’s upcoming sewage treatment plant project — referred to as Brightwater — hit the radar screens, groups started sounding the rally cry, "Not in my backyard."
Except for one group. The quiet little city of Woodway told King County, "Go ahead and put it in our backyard." They were referring to Point Wells, a 90-acre piece of land in unincorporated Snohomish County owned by Chevron with an asphalt plant located on it. But their invitation was soon rejected when the city of Shoreline (in King County) screamed, "Not in our front yard." Residents south of the county border protested the site near Richmond Beach and, sure enough, it was taken off the list.
Whether Point Wells is indeed the best site for King County’s sewage treatment plant, it certainly deserves more exploration just as surely as the city of Edmonds deserves to have its name taken off the short list.
King County Executive Ron Sims has said he’ll make an announcement about the preferred site in August. Only two sites, the Edmond’s Unocal site and one in Woodinville near Highway 9 and 228th Street SE, remain on the list.
While the Edmonds site might look tempting to King County, it has some fatal flaws. It is not big enough and there is no room for expansion. The project requires at least 25 acres of land and the Unocal site offers that, but no more. The lot simply isn’t big enough to accommodate the plant and necessary buffer zones.
Environmental regulations are likely to thwart or significantly tie-up prospects of building on the site. The land is next to wetlands and a salmon stream hatchery, not to mention the Edmonds waterfront. And the site has a steep slope, which would have to be altered significantly.
Opponents of the Unocal site offer many objections — aesthetics and odor ranking at the top. A sewage treatment plant is unlikely to be sweet smelling or a beauty mark in any area, so those arguments weren’t as convincing to us. But opponents raise interesting issues about exactly how much of their sewage King County would be treating. Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson insists that Edmonds treats all its own sewage and has the capacity to continue to do so. Mountlake Terrace has an agreement with King County and sends its flow down south for six months a year. In return, Edmonds takes 12 months of flow from King County. Haakenson said his city can process all of it without King County’s help and that they wouldn’t need the new facility. Besides, it would cost Edmonds ratepayers considerably more to join Brightwater, he said.
Of the two proposed sites, Edmonds is by far the least expensive, according to King County Executive Sims. Opponents of the Edmonds site question the price tag, but the considerable amount of pipe work that would be required at the Woodinville site supports Sims’ claim. Despite that, it doesn’t seem practical to build on the Unocal site.
Nobody likes these kinds of facilities in their yard. Well, almost nobody. King County shouldn’t have been so hasty to take Point Wells off the list and so determined to keep Edmonds on it.
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