Brightwater work starts this year

While the King County Brightwater Project may seem like many years off still, that was, well, a few years ago.

Residents can expect to see some preliminary construction under way in 2007. Two members of the King County Department of Natural Resources provided Shoreline Council members with an update on the project at the Monday, Feb. 5 Council meeting.

“We are moving past the design process into construction,” said Gunars Sreibers, conveyance program manager.

Several meetings have been held with Richmond Beach residents, Sreibers said, in order to provide updates about the project. The Brightwater Project has been an ongoing effort since the mid-90s after it was discovered that two treatment plants in the county were reaching capacity.

The Brightwater Project entails the construction of a new regional sewer treatment system that is expected to be completed in 2010.

The sewage treatment plant is being constructed near Woodinville. The conveyance system includes pipes that bring wastewater to and from the plant and a system built to discharge treated wastewater to Puget Sound, which will “traverse” Shoreline, according to council documents.

The system is being built almost entirely below ground in tunnels from 40 to 400 feet deep. The conveyance system in Shoreline runs under 205th Street to Point Wells, in Richmond Beach, where the treated effluent will be piped offshore.

Two of five portals will be located in Shoreline. The portals are where workers, tunnel boring machines and materials will enter and exit the tunnel during construction. One portal will be located east of Interstate-5 on Ballinger Way and another at Point Wells in Richmond Beach.

“The purpose (of the portals) is to remove machines that are constructing the tunnels,” Sreibers said.

King County officials previously agreed upon a mitigation agreement with the city of Shoreline, which includes transportation management, the location of a neighborhood park at the Richmond Beach Pump Station, odor control provisions and an agreement to barge spoils from the site rather than use trucking, according to documents.

“The spoils will either go out by barge or rail, we won’t take spoils out by truck,” said Sreibers, adding that the final decision is still pending.

The mitigation agreement was reached in late 2003 and was signed in May 2004, said Michael Popiwny, architectural design and mitigation manager.

Preliminary work at the Ballinger portal began in fall of 2006. In mid 2007, crews will start construction of the portal, which will require boring into the ground.

Site preparation at Point Wells is anticipated to begin in mid 2007. In October 2006, contaminated soils were removed from the property.

There also will be measures taken to reduce glare and dust and protections for sensitive marine species. Marine life will be monitored during and after construction, said Popiwny.

“We have harvested eel grass from this area and taken it to another facility where it is being grown,” said Popiwny, “and it will be brought back to this facility and replanted.”