southtransfer.jpg
Seattle Public Utilities' new South Transfer Station was built to replace the existing recycling and disposal facility in the South Park neighborhood, which has become obsolete since its construction in 1965. (Photo courtesy Mortenson Construction)

Months after ribbon-cutting, Seattle Public Utilities facility still not open

BY Brandi Kruse  on January 28, 2013 @ 11:31 am (Updated: 2:47 pm - 1/28/13 )

Eight months after a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Seattle Public Utilities' new, state-of-the-art South Transfer Station remains closed.

The structure was built to replace the existing recycling and disposal facility in Seattle's South Park neighborhood, which has become obsolete since its construction in 1965.

Ground was broken on the new facility in November 2010, but two key problems prevented it from opening as planned in June 2012.

In June 2011, the West Seattle Herald posted photos that showed the building's steel structure had been erected. Three months later, in September, The Herald posted a photo that showed the steel had been taken back down.

That's problem number one.

Andy Ryan, a spokesperson for Settle Public Utilities, said that the structure was taken back down in order to apply a more durable paint.

"We recognized that opportunity in the process to do it better," Ryan said when asked by KIRO Radio why the proper paint wasn't chosen to begin with.

Ryan said the process of dismantling the metal, sending it out to be repainted and putting it back up cost $2.7 million; that cost was split 50/50 between the contractor, Mortenson Construction, and the city. The net savings in long-term maintenance costs for SPU is estimated at $1.3 million.

The second problem became apparent only after SPU held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new building in May 2012. It was discovered that an area of the building designed for trucks to come in and out was not built with sufficient clearance. Once a sprinkler system was installed, it became apparent that the ceiling was too low.

"When we started running trucks through here, it became really apparent that while we had adequate clearance when things went right, things can go wrong," said Jeff Neuner, the transfer station business area manager.

"These sprinklers are something that just didn't show up on the drawing boards," Ryan said. "It showed up as soon as our operations people walked through and looked at them."

When asked if the building would have been completed by June 2012 had it not been for the clearance issue, Neuner said it would have.

The cost to alter the sprinkler system to allow for proper clearance is estimated at $300,000. The city will pay for one-third of that change, according to Ryan.

KIRO Radio also spoke with Seattle Public Utilities in order to clear up several discrepancies in their statements about the South Transfer Station.

When SPU reported on the start of construction, they wrote on their website that the project had a price tag of $50 million. SPU officials were quoted in several articles restating that figure, although the actual cost is much greater.

"The government-approved amount that we're going to spend here is about $75 million," Ryan said. "If we weren't, we certainly should in all of our materials have been reporting the actual, total complete cost of the facility."

Ryan called it an "error," and explained that SPU posted the figure paid to the contractor alone, not the cost of property acquisition, site cleanup, environmental studies and other related expenses. As of Monday, the SPU website was changed to reflect the total cost.

Another conflicting piece of information was the actual deadline for the project. While SPU repeatedly stated in print and during interviews that the project would be done in June 2012, Ryan said the deadline had always been December 2012, but that the contractor was "optimistic" it would be done sooner.

SPU said it is going through a final "check list," and anticipates the facility will be open sometime in the first quarter of this year. It will come in slightly over budget, at approximately $75,512,000, due to upgrades they've asked the contractor to complete.

Ryan said SPU does not anticipate having another ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Brandi Kruse, KIRO Radio Reporter
Brandi Kruse is a reporter for KIRO Radio who is as spontaneous and adventurous in her free time as she is on the job. Brandi arrived at KIRO Radio in March 2011 and has already collected three regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting.
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Comments (26)


  • Add A Comment

  • ToldYa wrote...
    Spent 2.7/M2 = 1.35M to 'save' 1.30M
    January 28, 2013 2:20 pm
    "...when things went right, things can go wrong," There is pervasive atmosphere of union enabled incompetence throughout - fire the lot of them that baked this scheme up.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Amorget wrote...
    Read carefully
    January 28, 2013 3:39 pm
    The article says NET savings, meaning savings after the costs have been taken into account, aka, they will save 2.65M gross.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Amorget
    January 28, 2013 8:10 pm
    Savings? For a multi-million dollar facility that is not operating and way over budget??? Obviously you work for the state or your a union moron....you just exposed your stupidity to everyone here....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Amorget wrote...
    Not even close
    January 28, 2013 9:27 pm
    I feel unions are completely outdated and would never work for the state. Just pointing out that you can't use the simple math of them spending 1.35 to save 1.3 (meaning they actually lost 50,000, not even taking into account the time value of money). If it put it behind and costed them money then that should be taking from the NET savings that they stated. They don't give near enough information as to how the calculated that net savings to really make an argument either way, unless you know something that wasn't stated in the article as to how they came up with that figure.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    It's not open after 8 months
    January 28, 2013 9:49 pm
    There is ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY with the people in charge... How much money has been lost as a result of the 8 month delay in the use of the facility? Yep, you work for the government all right. If this was the real business world, people would have been held accountable, fired and the bottom line for the investment would be under intense scrutiny. Again, you believe what these idiots spew as excuses to the monumental failure as leaders....yep, you work for the government....or you have ZERO business experience ....most likely a Democrat.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • murr wrote...
    What money paid for this ????????
    January 28, 2013 4:27 pm
    Ahhh tax payer money, who give's a d-mm then, Look at the jokers that run this, they are a farce, and will continue to fleece the tax payers. I can hear it flushing, they should be right there with the rest of it going down. They would be in good company. A JOKE
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    I'm painting my home this summer -
    January 28, 2013 4:43 pm
    so I take it apart paint each board then build it again? The home next to mine was repainted last summer without removing any boards? What should I do? The sprinkler system is low to allow for proper clearance so lets buy a new fleet of smaller garbage trucks? O and if your worry about cost over runs - Highway 99 tunnel machine damage could delay dig http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020199728_99tunneldelaysxml.html Brandi on your way out did you look in the frig. for beer?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • John wrote...
    When you get caught. Lie.
    January 28, 2013 5:18 pm
    Then lie some more.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pressman wrote...
    75 MILLION !!!
    January 29, 2013 12:13 am
    For a frickin over-sized barn and a trench in which trucks are driven in order to fill with garbage. And then these frickin morons sputter on about how the sprinklers weren't on the blueprints and the trucks that are supposed to dump the garbage won't actually fit into the 75 MILLION DOLLAR BARN- well, hot dam- I for one hope my taxes are raised to support this kind of frugal, pencil-sharp kind of forward thinking, ferret-eyed attention to detail- cause I know that when I see three man crews cleaning the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, cause some hapless pedestrian might slip due his own stupidity, that my hard earned tax dollars are being spent with an eye toward wringing every pennys worth out of them. What a frickin joke.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • myopinion wrote...
    Business as usual
    January 29, 2013 6:57 am
    If this were a privately funded building, those people would be out of a job and rightfully so. But they are dealing with public funds and when more money is needed, they just toll a diffrent road. We as the public are at fault for not demanding more and firing those that are failures at thier publicly funded jobs. Soon you wont be able to drive anywhere around seatle where the road wont be tolled so they can fund buildings or poorly designed buildings. So instead of a "gas tax" the politicians have figured out a new way to get our money. FIRE THEM ALL DEMAND TERM LIMITS.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    The sprinklers
    January 29, 2013 7:35 am
    were on the dwgs otherwise it wouldn't have been approved. Someone didn't do a proper review and instead of getting fired they probably got promoted. Reagan was right, Government isn't the solution, it's the problem.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • cdbtx wrote...
    KUDOS AND PRAISE
    January 29, 2013 9:24 am
    TO MYNW.COM and KIRO REPORTING ON THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }