County claims “Fast action stops Kirkland Pump Station overflow”

Equipment damage, mechanical failure possible cause

UPDATED

The beach at Marina Park is closed due to a mishap at the sewage pump station work taking place on 3rd Street adjacent to the new downtown transit center. Approximately 25,000 gallons of sewage overflowed into Lake Washington near Marina Park. Bright red signs have been posted on the beach warning swimmers, waders and fishermen to stay away in three languages.

King County has produced the following news release about what happened:

Employees with King County’s wastewater utility quickly stopped a sewage overflow that began about 1 p.m. at the Kirkland Pump Station in downtown Kirkland.

An estimated 25,000 gallons of wastewater overflowed for 24 minutes into Lake Washington near Kirkland’s Marina Park. The station normally pumps about 6 million gallons of wastewater each day to the county’s South Treatment Plant in Renton.

County staff took water quality samples, posted the beach as closed and notified health and regulatory agencies about the overflow.

Although the cause is under investigation, workers believe debris may have reduced capacity in one of the pumps. Another pump that could have provided backup capacity failed to start. Workers made repairs and the system is again operating normally.

The Kirkland Pump Station has been serving the city’s residents and businesses for more than 40 years. In October, construction began on a project to upgrade the aging facility to better serve this growing community.

Note to editors and reporters: Visit the WTD Newsroom, a portal to information for the news media about the Wastewater Treatment Division, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/wtd/Newsroom.aspx.