Community Relations

Public involvement essential to water pollution control

Current Wastewater Projects | History | Today | Things You Can Do | Public Involvement Guidelines and Tool Kit

Community Relations Planner Jennifer Kauffman, third from left, tells residents about plans for a King County pump station replacement and sewer improvement project in Shoreline.

When John and Jane Q. Public speak, King County's Wastewater Treatment Division listens.

That's been standard operating procedure for the regional public utility since before it began operating in 1959. Public comment has played an essential role ever since.

Recent public involvement activities are affecting plans for a new treatment system serving north King County and south Snohomish counties, a new treatment plant in Carnation, and pump station improvement projects in Bellevue and Shoreline.

The green box at left has links to current wastewater services and programs. The box at right below has links to current projects with active Web sites. Contact information for community relations staff is available on program and project Web pages.

A history of public involvement

Local public involvement in water pollution control began in 1956 when a group of residents became concerned about the effects of rapid urban growth, especially a deteriorating Lake Washington.

As population grew in communities around the lake, effluent from small sewage treatment plants around the lake caused considerable algae growth in the lake. That led to a decline in water transparency.

Green scum could often be seen on the lake surface, and in summer the unpleasant odor of dying algae was in the air.

Simultaneously, raw sewage was fouling saltwater beaches in Elliott Bay and other parts of Puget Sound.

Those conditions prompted residents to begin a three-year study of metropolitan problems. Following that study, citizens drafted a state law that would allow local governments to form metropolitan federations to solve problems that cross boundaries of cities, counties and special districts.

After passage of that law, citizen activists went to the voters twice in 1958, eventually winning approval of a solution to the area's most pressing problem: water pollution.

With endorsements from both major political parties, the mayors of all 11 incorporated cities and all major civic groups, the measure passed with a 58 percent yes vote in Seattle and 67 percent approval in suburban areas.

In 1965, the new Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, or Metro, began operating its first regional wastewater treatment plant, in Renton. And its second plant, at West Point in Seattle, began operating in 1966.

After completing its first round of construction, Metro reduced effluent discharges to Lake Washington from 20 million gallons a day to zero in February 1968. The lake's transparency, as low as 30 inches in 1964, was 10 feet in 1968. And by 1977, the lake was clearer than ever before in its recorded history. More information about the history of Lake Washington.

The agency's new Elliott Bay interceptor sewer system, finished in 1970, and continuing sewer system upgrades have led to measurable water quality improvements to Seattle's commercial waterfront.

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Community relations today

No longer called Metro, the wastewater treatment utility is now part of King County's Department of Natural Resources and Parks. The clean water agency continues to involve public officials and residents of affected jurisdictions early and actively in the planning and decision-making process for capital projects.

The Wastewater Treatment Division's community relations efforts include the following:

• Providing information to help the public understand the need for the project, alternatives and solutions.
• Coordinating public outreach with public notification requirements of environmental review and permitting.
• Providing opportunities for public comment on facility siting and facility design elements, such as aesthetics, architecture and landscape design.

The community relations staff also conducts various public information and outreach activities to foster an informed, well-educated public that understands the need for division programs and the public good that comes from them:

• A speakers bureau
• Community open houses
• Wastewater treatment facility tours
• "Where does it go when you flush" tours with Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

Schedule speakers and plant tours.

Things you can do to protect your environment

Besides learning about and commenting on wastewater projects and programs in your community, you can take other actions to protect public health and the environment. This Web page links to information about things you can do to protect your home and family, the wastewater treatment process, and water quality.

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