A hearing examiner Aug. 4 upheld the adequacy of the Brightwater Final Environmental Impact Statement and denied the appeal of a citizen group on the condition that the county do further geological study on the site of the planned sewage treatment facility at Route 9 and Highway 522.
“This is a tremendous milestone in the long planning process to build needed sewage treatment capacity for south Snohomish County and north King County,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “This was the final challenge of our massive study of the possible environmental impacts of Brightwater, and we are proud of the outstanding work of our staff, consultants and experts.”
The hearing examiner found that the process for evaluating potential sites was reasonable; the Brightwater FEIS was based on information available when it was issued in November 2003; and the county provided adequate analysis of information.
Based on new information made available in March 2004, the hearing examiner added the condition that the county do trenching on the site to further determine earthquake risk to future Brightwater buildings.
Even before today’s ruling, Brightwater was being designed under the assumption there is an earthquake fault on the site, although geological engineers hired by the county who have studied the site do not believe there is a fault.
The county has worked with the U.S. Geological Survey staff and paid for part of the research as USGS last year identified a new earthquake fault extending from South Whidbey Island across south Snohomish County to northeast King County.
“Our mission is to protect people and the environment,” said Executive Sims. “This FEIS and Brightwater itself are both undertaken to deliver on that mission. We are not only working hard to build a safe and reliable facility, we are setting aside $88 million for mitigation of possible impacts to ensure that Brightwater and its conveyance system are good neighbors. In addition, we are spending nearly $50 million on odor control to design and build the best odor control in the nation.”
King County began planning for Brightwater about four years ago and spent two years conducting the environmental review.
The Brightwater FEIS is 17 volumes and nearly 3,000 pages of analysis and summary information evaluating the probable and significant environment impact of the Brightwater alternatives. About 500 citizens, environmental groups and agencies submitted more than 5,000 individual comments on the draft EIS.
The comments helped form the executive decision to select the 114-acre site at Route 9 and the 16-mile conveyance route along 195th Street in north King County. About 60 percent of the sewage treated by Brightwater will come from Snohomish County.
King County is negotiating with jurisdictions for needed permits for construction of Brightwater and its pipes, pump stations and outfall. The next public meeting is Aug. 10, when designers will further share how they incorporated citizen ideas into the Brightwater design.
Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2005 or early 2006.
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