‘In 10 years, you’re not going to have any fish’: Spike raises long-term concerns as Sound Transit scrambles to stop killing fish

Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine acknowledged that the agency’s Crosslake Connection, which opened March 28, may be responsible for the deaths of an estimated 2,000 fish in Lake Washington.

The culprit appears to be the bridge’s cathodic protection system, a network of anode strings that hang into the lake and use low-level electrical current to prevent corrosion of the bridge’s metal components.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) first alerted Sound Transit to dead fish near the bridge on Aug. 3. Constantine said most of the dead fish are non-native perch and bass, with “a small number of salmon identified as well.” Sound Transit has since raised 32 anode strings off the lakebed as an interim fix while biologists and engineers work toward a permanent solution.

Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill, co-hosts of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, were skeptical of both Sound Transit’s estimate and its assurances that the bridge is safe for the public.

Jake believes Sound Transit’s track record on estimates speaks for itself

Jake said he has little confidence in the 2,000-fish number given Sound Transit’s history of underestimating things, including the system’s original price tag.

“This is the same organization that said it’s going to be $53 billion; now it’s like four times that amount,” Jake said. “It’s the same organization that’s now telling us it’s 2,000 fish. I would hearken to guess that it’s probably more than that. They’re just not able to estimate correctly if I’m looking at their past estimating anything.”

He also pushed back on Constantine’s framing of the dead fish as mostly invasive species.

“Tiny amount of salmon, not consequential in any way. Not like that’s our state fish or anything,” Jake said. “Bass, he says they’re invasive, but good golly, I’m working hard to catch bass. Bass are great. Perch, too, man.”

Spike questions how Sound Transit botched a proven system

Spike noted that Sound Transit’s own statements acknowledge cathodic protection systems are widely used around the world without harming fish, which makes the failure harder to explain.

“This system has been used successfully without harm to fish habitats around the world,” Spike said. “If you’ve got a system, you test it. How do we mix electric and water and not kill the fish? They found a system that has been proven to work across the country, across the world. And here it ain’t working.”

He raised longer-term concerns, arguing that if 2,000 fish have died in the bridge’s first months of operation, the damage will only compound over time.

“If you’ve already got 2,000 dead fish in a year, you’re going to have a decline in habitat,” Spike said. “In 10 years, you’re not going to have any fish in the lake if you don’t address it.”

Jake also questioned WSDOT’s assurance that the bridge poses no risk to the public, noting that families with children swim in Lake Washington during the summer near the crossing.

“If I was a parent with my kids near the lake, and I know that there’s this electrical current going underneath there, and there’s all these fish floating up dead, I might keep my kids away from that,” Jake said. “Because I don’t necessarily trust WSDOT or Sound Transit, who tell us that there’s no danger to the public at all. It’s like, okay, well then why is there a bunch of dead fish?”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3