Sewage plant site near Woodinville selected; appeals on way

By Christopher Schwarzen
Times Snohomish County bureau

	JIMI LOTT / THE SEATTLE TIMES King County Executive Ron Sims, second from right, joins others yesterday on a quick tour of the bare land that is to be the Brightwater project. After Sims announced the site decision, opponents of the project said the fight is far from over.
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The Snohomish County Council and the city of Woodinville plan to appeal King County's decision to build the Brightwater sewage-treatment plant off Highway 9 just north of Woodinville.

Shortly after King County Executive Ron Sims yesterday announced the site for the regional plant, opponents began planning steps to block the project.

Critics argue that King County hasn't adequately studied impacts the $1.35 billion sewage plant could have on an aquifer beneath the site, nor the potential hazards seismic activity could pose for the plant. They also complain that King County offered opponents little more than a week to review a final environmental-impact statement before the site decision was announced yesterday at a news conference.

Snohomish County Councilman Jeff Sax said yesterday he expects the County Council also will challenge King County's authority to build the plant outside its own boundaries.

Sims said his office is ready to defend against any appeals as well as continue the process by applying for a critical permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the end of the year.

King County officials say they can build across county borders because the plant will serve residents of North King and South Snohomish counties. Both Highway 9 and the alternative Unocal site in Edmonds are in Snohomish County — an issue that has angered Snohomish County residents.

To temporarily block construction, the Snohomish County Council recently passed a six-month moratorium on new essential public facilities, despite County Executive Bob Drewel's support of the sewage plant. The moratorium ends in May, but could be extended another six months.

"The final environmental-impact statement still doesn't address concerns that should have been handled," Sax said. "Plus, King County is breaking the mold by saying this is a regional project. It must be tested in court."

Woodinville City Manager Pete Rose said residents have raised concerns over odor from the plant, which King County says will be prevented with a $33 million odor-control system. Woodinville has fought unsuccessfully to stifle onion-soup odors from a neighboring StockPot soup plant, and city officials fear similar problems from the sewage plant.

Corinne Hensley, a member of the Sno-King Environmental Alliance, said the group also plans to file an appeal against the environmental-impact statement used to site the plant.

King County officials said they will apply for a needed water-quality and wetlands-destruction permit from the Corps of Engineers by the end of December. This will be the first of several federal, state and local agency reviews — which include public hearings and comment periods — for the Brightwater plant.

The corps said it plans to look closely at impacts to three endangered and threatened species — chinook salmon, bull trout and bald eagles — which are known to live in the area. Before the corps can issue a permit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service also must OK plans to operate a sewage plant near sensitive salmon streams, said Jim Green, the corps' project manager overseeing the Brightwater review.

While battle lines were being drawn over Brightwater yesterday, the Little Bear Creek Protective Association was pleased with the decision.

Group President Greg Stephens says the more than $80 million the county will spend on habitat improvements to the creek will help protect salmon and create better buffers for streams. The area now is mostly zoned industrial and full of paved parking lots that add to runoff pollution in nearby tributaries.

King County says it will decrease paved acreage on the plant site from 70 to less than 9 acres and will double the wetlands acreage to 11. An environmental-education center also is in the works.

Sims also said plant construction and operation would create about 20,000 jobs.

Initially, King County said the Highway 9 site was 106 acres. But King County is currently negotiating a buyout of StockPot's lease, which would push the site to 114 acres.

In addition to building at Highway 9, King County would run its conveyance line carrying treated waste to Puget Sound along Northeast 195th Street. This route was chosen mainly because only four portals — or entrances to dig the tunnels — would be needed.

While King County officials have said there is room to expand the existing sewage plants at Renton and West Point, pipelines carrying treated sewage will be over capacity by 2010.

Construction of the Brightwater plant is expected to begin in mid-2005, with the plant going into operation by 2010.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times staff reporter Lisa Heyamoto contributed to this report.

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