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Department of Ecology News Release - March 17, 2005
05-059
BELLEVUE - The Department of Ecology (Ecology) has issued a construction stormwater permit that sets terms and conditions to protect water quality while King County builds the Brightwater wastewater treatment plant.
The permit sets limits on turbidity and other measurements of water quality related to construction activities for the wastewater treatment plant. Turbidity represents the amount of silt allowed in storm water that runs off the construction site and enters waterways.
The permit also requires monitoring of "dewatering" water. To build foundation structures, underground water must be pumped from the areas being excavated. The permit sets terms and conditions for discharging the dewatering water into Little Bear Creek.
Ecology submitted a draft of the permit for public comment in September and October 2004. The permit is one of several local, state and federal permits King County must obtain to build and operate the project.
In January, Ecology issued a similar permit for constructing Brightwater's conveyance system, the tunnels and pipelines that will bring untreated sewage to the treatment plant and then carry treated waste water to Puget Sound.
The permit, its appendices and a fact sheet are available online at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/northwest_permits.html.
Ecology will develop a separate wastewater discharge permit for the completed treatment plant prior to its opening, scheduled in 2010. The plant will occupy part of a 114-acre site north of Woodinville along State Route 9 in Snohomish County and will treat an average of 25 million gallons of waste water per day during the wet season in the year 2010.
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Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7009
For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/northwest_permits.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
