Information provided by King County

A mechanical failure at King County’s West Point Wastewater Treatment Facility earlier this month forced the plant to discharge untreated wastewater/stormwater directly into Puget Sound. The Metropolitan King County Council gave its unanimous support to emergency measures designed to expedite the repairs needed to get the facility back to full capacity.

The motion approved by the Council extends the Executive’s waiver on the competitive bidding and solicitation requirements for contracts relating to the repair and replacement of damaged structures and equipment at the plant.

While the facility—which treats wastewater flows from homes and businesses in Seattle, Shoreline, north Lake Washington, north King County and parts of south Snohomish county—is back online, it is not operating at full capacity. The goal of the adopted motion is to expedite the repairs needed to get the plant back to full operation.

West Point is part of the County’s wastewater treatment system. When running at full capacity the plant treats 90 million gallons of wastewater a day during dry weather and can handle in excess of 400 million gallons of wastewater/stormwater during heavy rains.