King County Council members ought to act carefully when they make their next move toward construction of a new sewage plant in south Snohomish County. They should grab an insurance policy while they can.
The insurance policy would be in the form of having an extra site under consideration, rather than putting all their chips on just two possibile spots for the vitally needed regional facility.
King County Executive Ron Sims has narrowed the site list to two candidates, in Edmonds and along Highway 9 in the Woodinville area. The choices were made after an extensive, well-conducted process.
A siting advisory committee is now asking King County to consider continued study of two sites rejected by Sims. The committee says there are substantial risks to an approach that offers only two alternatives. If one site were eliminated for technical reasons, the process might grind to a halt. Moreover, with only two sites, higher costs for the Highway 9 spot could force the plant to Edmonds, even if serious problems arise.
The advisory committee arguments make enough sense that the council ought to look for a compromise: adding back one site. That would clearly be the site in Woodway where Chevron operates an asphalt plant. The other possibility, a gravel quarry in Bothell, has fewer attractions and significant problems.
In rejecting the Woodway site, Sims noted that the loss of the asphalt plant could drive up the costs of improving the region’s sorry transportation picture. As the committee points out, however, it might be possible to keep the asphalt operation even while building the plant.
Sims’ general concerns about revisiting the decision are reasonable. The time and expense for extra studies could be problematic. And it’s wrong to unnecessarily put extra communities through the headache of having to deal with a possible sewage treatment in their backyard.
Still, the council and Sims must keep in mind that Woodway’s city council has actually argued for the plant being in their town. Such rare support almost completely undercuts Sims’ point about not dragging communities through pointless pain. Yes, the neighboring city of Shoreline (in King County) is worried about traffic to the plant, but that should be largely a construction phase burden, and one that can be mitigated.
For technical and legal reasons, it’s proper for the selection process to be handled by the King County Council — until the permit stage of the process is reached, when local, state and federal reviews will all come into play. And the plant will largely serve Snohomish County customers, so the proposed locations make sense as well. But it is also right that Sims and King County have made extra efforts to hear Snohomish County voices in the process. They can continue on that same good faith path by bringing the Woodway site back into the picture. And they will be acting in King County’s interest as well, by covering their bets more carefully.
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