Add sewer to Seattle’s list of projects over budget
May 23, 2018, 2:20 PM
A sign on the banks of Seattle's Lake Union warning that sewage spills into the lake during heavy rainfall. (Dyer Oxley, MyNorthwest)
(Dyer Oxley, MyNorthwest)
There have always been an array of problems from Seattle sewage overflowing into area waters. Add rising costs to the list.
RELATED: Seattle wastewater system has trouble keeping up
Seattle has long planned a new 2.7 mile tunnel under Wallingford, Fremont, and Ballard, but it’s not slated for cars. Rather, it is designed to handle sewage that often overflows into neighboring canals and Lake Union.
The project was initially estimated to cost $423 million. But the Seattle Times reports that those costs have ballooned to $570 million. It is the latest Seattle project revealed to have higher-than-expected costs.
Mayor Jenny Durkan halted construction of a new downtown streetcar line in late March. The $150 million streetcar project evolved into more than $200 million. New bike lanes were also halted in April. The lanes were expected to cost around $860,000 per mile, but ended up costing up to $12 million.
Seattle sewage problem
Seattle doesn’t have too many options to get around the new tunnel. The Seattle sewage problem comes from about 100 combined sewage overflows (pipes that spill sewage into the open water) which overflow as many as 134 times a year. Seattle’s sewage and stormwater system was designed more than 100 years ago, for a much smaller population. Sewage from homes and other buildings flow into the same pipes that handle stormwater. Those pipes lead to wastewater treatment facilities.
But when the region experiences heavy rainfall, those pipes fill up fast. Overflow — untreated sewage and rainwater — dumps into the nearest canal, lake, or Elliott Bay. That can lead to some hefty fines if it happens too much. Add to that the fact that the area’s treatment plants have trouble keeping up with the flow, the Seattle sewage system stinks.
WATCH: Sewage spills into Elliott Bay
In 2016, for example, King County was fined $63,500 and Seattle was fined $33,500 for the number of times sewage flowed into surrounding lakes and Puget Sound. The utilities are allowed to overflow a certain number of times each year. King County was cited for 23 violations and Seattle was cited for 10 violations that year.
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