Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Public Meeting

Please join your neighbors and other West Seattle residents for a community meeting to discuss Combined Sewer Overflow control alternatives and facility siting in the Murray Basin Monday, September 27, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Hall at Fauntleroy.

King County Wastewater Treatment Division has been working with the Murray Community Advisory Group (also known as the Murray CAG) this past summer to find possible locations within the basin to site a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) facility. In fall of 2010, King County will decide on proposals for CSO control in the Barton and Murray areas. The decision made for a CSO control facility will have lasting impacts on your neighborhood or an adjacent neighborhood, so you are invited to attend a Murray CAG meeting to discuss the suggested alternatives.

You aree invited to attend this meeting to hear about the alternatives and to provide your comments. Time is running out before these alternatives are evaluated by King County and a decision is made, and this may be the last opportunity you will have to voice your opinion.

CSOs occur in older parts of King County’s wastewater system that carry both wastewater and stormwater to the treatment plant. When heavy rains fill the pipes, excess stormwater and sewage flow directly into local waterbodies. Historically, CSOs were designed into the system to avoid damage to facilities and sewer backups into homes and businesses and onto streets during storms.

Today, CSOs are a concern because untreated wastewater and stormwater may be discharged to Puget Sound during large storms posing risks to public health and the environment. To meet state regulations, King County’s goal is to reduce the number of CSOs each year, with a long-term goal of no more than one untreated discharge per location per year. These locations are top priority because people are most likely to come in contact with water during recreational activities such as swimming.

If you have questions about this meeting or the CSO Beach Projects in general, you can reach me by email at martha.tuttle@kingcounty.gov or by phone at 206-684-1207.

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