August 13, 2002 News Release Sims Announces Preferred Alternative for Brightwater Wastewater Treatment System King County Executive Ron Sims today announced his preferred alternative for the new Brightwater wastewater treatment system is the State Route 9 site in Snohomish County. The proposed system will include conveyance pipes installed in tunnels mostly located in King County. The outfall to Puget Sound would be at Point Wells on the King/Snohomish County border. "We need the new treatment system to protect public health and the environment in south Snohomish County and north King County," Sims said. "It is critical that Brightwater meets its time line and begins operating by 2010. "I've reviewed all the technical details and the thousands of technical and public comments we've received from the public during the past three years," Sims said. "My recommendation has several advantages," including: The larger size of the Route 9 site would provide more room than the Unocal site in Edmonds for building the plant, a landscaped buffer, odor-control options and other mitigation measures; The Route 9 site and pipeline also would provide greater flexibility for changes in flow volumes and reusing water; Building a tunnel under Northeast 195th and 205th streets in King County would provide a direct alignment between the plant and Point Wells. The Point Wells outfall would be very deep (at least 500 feet) and very far from shore (at least 3,000 feet); Besides its larger size, the Route 9 location provides environmental opportunities for cleaning up a polluted site and enhancing nearby streams and wetlands, Sims said. King County would remove less soil before construction from the Route 9 site than from the Unocal site; Building a conveyance tunnel would disrupt communities less than digging pipeline trenches. The tunnel would also have far less impact on congested traffic corridors. The conveyance route under Northeast 195th and 205th streets also would handle flows effectively during emergencies; and The Point Wells outfall avoids impacts to eelgrass beds, an important habitat for salmon and other species. It provides excellent mixing of waters. The water quality of Puget Sound will not be compromised by discharging treated wastewater from Brightwater. Sims discussed his preference at a meeting of the Brightwater Executive Advisory Committee. The committee, which has participated in every step of the process, includes representatives of tribal governments, cities and sewer districts in the Brightwater siting area and environmental, labor and business leaders, and Snohomish County. "I've decided to include a preferred alternative in the environmental impact statement for several reasons," Sims said. "I want to be open about my initial preferences based on the technical information studied to date and the thousands of comments we have received." "This will help people focus their comments on the draft EIS," he said. "Including a preferred alternative in the draft EIS doesn't change the need to fully analyze both sites, and we will do a very thorough analysis of both. I will make a final decision next year after we hear from the public and thoroughly analyze the alternatives and information in the final EIS." Sims stressed, however, that a preferred alternative is not a final decision. After release of the draft EIS in October, King County will hold public hearings to get public comment on the preferred alternative and two other alternatives. In addition to the preferred alternative, the other alternatives being reviewed will be the Unocal site with a deep tunnel (that may or may not include pump stations) and the Route 9 site with a deep tunnel along 228th Street Southwest in Snohomish County. "I've listened to the public, the scientists and engineers, and I'm ready to tell you what I'm thinking," Sims said. "Based on the information provided thus far, I have identified as a preferred alternative the option that I believe is most likely to be delivered on time and on budget." Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel said he appreciates Sims' decision to include a preferred alternative in the EIS, but emphasized that the hard work has just begun. "It is important to have a straightforward and transparent site selection process," Drewel said, "but we are early in the environmental review process, and we still have a long way to go. Snohomish County citizens have the right to ask tough questions about every aspect of Brightwater, and they deserve complete and comprehensible answers. I will make sure that King County lives up to that civic obligation." Additionally, Drewel stated, "I believe that whichever community is chosen to locate this regional facility will be impacted and that the region should help mitigate these impacts. And I will make sure that the mitigation addresses not only the needs of today's residents but also the needs of their children and grandchildren." King County Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds, who represents north King County, also expressed support for the preferred alternative. "King County will be a good neighbor in building and operating Brightwater," she said. "I will continue to work with cities and communities in the area to make sure we do an excellent job mitigating the environmental impacts of this essential public facility." Related Information Preferred Alternative for Brightwater EIS Regional Wastewater Services Plan Wastewater Treatment Division News Releases

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