Sewage spills into Puget Sound

By Seattle Times news services

SEATTLE - An estimated 52,000 gallons of untreated sewage flowed into Puget Sound off Alki Beach this morning when a power failure shut down a pump to the West Point treatment plant.

The sewage entered the water from an overflow 800 feet off shore and tides usually dissipate overflow to reduce its effects on the environment, said Carolyn Duncan, spokeswoman for the King County Department of Natural Resources.

The overflow included waste from toilets, household water and surface water, Duncan said.

The beach in the area of the 7000 block of Beach Drive Southwest was posted with warnings, plus leaflets were distributed to the homes in the area warning of possible health problems from the water, she said.

Water samples were taken but the results take 24 hours. As spills go, it is not a large one, but precautions have to be taken nonetheless, Duncan said.

A power outage in the area of Lincoln Park of West Seattle cut power to 2,300 customers, and the sewage pump, about 7 a.m., according to City Light. The source of outage was not immediately known.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=spill16m&date=20010316

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 18, 2001

Answers

Another squirrel attack!

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 18, 2001.