'Don't touch the water': Sewage spill shuts popular Seattle beach
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SEATTLE - A sewage spill has shut down part of the beach near a popular West Seattle park.
The health threat came on a spring-like Sunday that drew a lot of families to the waterfront - their outing spoiled by raw sewage.
The Barton pump station, right next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock, blew a cap on Saturday night. King County crews don't yet know how much sewage spilled into Puget Sound.
That was no comfort for Nicole Grant and her family, who had been looking forward to spending the afternoon along the waterfront.
"What a shame," she says.
The county considers the spill enough of a threat to post signs warning people to stay out of the water and avoid possible exposure to fecal coliform.
"That's horrible because we were planning on enjoying low tide today, and looking for some critters," said Grant.
Neighbors remember a power outage caused a similar overflow last summer. It makes taxpayers wonder - what's going on?
"Sewage spill - I mean that sounds like something that could have been prevented, probably," says James Shively, who was visiting the beach.
Construction is under way to do just that. The pump station is getting a multimillion-dollar upgrade - new electrical work, back-up generators and expanded wastewater capacity from 22 million gallons a day to 33 million gallons.
"The original capacity wasn't enough. We need more capacity. And they're adding vast quantities of capacity to handle it. So that works for me," says local neighbor Martin Westerman.
Some of King County's sewage pipes are a century old. Maintenance - and replacing parts - is an ongoing job, dependent on the budget.
It's not something families on a Sunday afternoon want to worry about. But after this latest spill. - they do.
"I think I'm going to warn my children not to touch the water," says Grant.
The health threat came on a spring-like Sunday that drew a lot of families to the waterfront - their outing spoiled by raw sewage.
The Barton pump station, right next to the Fauntleroy ferry dock, blew a cap on Saturday night. King County crews don't yet know how much sewage spilled into Puget Sound.
That was no comfort for Nicole Grant and her family, who had been looking forward to spending the afternoon along the waterfront.
"What a shame," she says.
The county considers the spill enough of a threat to post signs warning people to stay out of the water and avoid possible exposure to fecal coliform.
"That's horrible because we were planning on enjoying low tide today, and looking for some critters," said Grant.
Neighbors remember a power outage caused a similar overflow last summer. It makes taxpayers wonder - what's going on?
"Sewage spill - I mean that sounds like something that could have been prevented, probably," says James Shively, who was visiting the beach.
Construction is under way to do just that. The pump station is getting a multimillion-dollar upgrade - new electrical work, back-up generators and expanded wastewater capacity from 22 million gallons a day to 33 million gallons.
"The original capacity wasn't enough. We need more capacity. And they're adding vast quantities of capacity to handle it. So that works for me," says local neighbor Martin Westerman.
Some of King County's sewage pipes are a century old. Maintenance - and replacing parts - is an ongoing job, dependent on the budget.
It's not something families on a Sunday afternoon want to worry about. But after this latest spill. - they do.
"I think I'm going to warn my children not to touch the water," says Grant.
Folks obviously do not remember that Puget Sound was a dumping ground for sewage for a very long time before the state started actually thinking they should treat it first... main reason why Puget sound is such a hellish water environment right now. It is not natural... it is 100% manmade... think of that next time you want to goto into the lake. I for one will never go swimming in Puget Sound... the cities lack of sewage treatment should be top priority over... MORE BIKE lanes...plastic bag restrictions...section 8 housing assistance....domestic art... etc... You name is Seatlte wasted it
Oysters are going to be huge there! They love raw sewage! The Oyster mother natures sewage treatment plants. That is what they eat is crap.
Waste in WA, literally and figuratively, what else is new.
Like they say, "S" happens
On the bright side, there should be some good crabbing around there a little later this year...
@acepaul Oysters too!
This seems to be a regular problem here in the Puget Sound, waste spilling into waterways.
To the people of Seattle. The next time you and your mayor want to protest coal trains, just remember, your poop is contaminating the bay. It seems to happen often all around this area where we are to stay out of the water because either Seattle or Shorelines poop station over flowed. Stop the crapping. :-)
The spill is on a completely private beach. Bad for the local homeowners, and bad for the environment, certainly an issue for better public utility management. But "popular Seattle Beach' makes it sound like this was at a public park or something. It's private property.
@happiness Hey pal , open your eyes thats Lincoln park at the top of the picture. You think the spill stayed in that one little spot ? Not bloody likely. Â
This was actually very convenient for me as my toilet stopped working yesterday and I was able to simply poop off the fauntleroy ferry dock. I am concerned however about my toilet, I wonder if the issue could be related.
Oh noes, poor families. Why on Earth is this article family-centric? Single people don't live in West Seattle?
@Illuminati They interviewed people that came to the beach.
Mukilteo beach has high levels of fecal matter in the water due to faulty rainwater pipes dumping contaminates into the water. They won't put up a sign and kids are getting sick. Why won't someone check into that?
I lived in a warm weather  beach community for twenty six years. in the summer the water temp was around 80 degrees.  There is no way I'd go anywhere near any of the so called beaches here. they're nasty, and the water is too ____ cold!Â
@Steve Giovanis They're a joke!
Opps, someone kick over the honey bucket..
Wasn't too long ago some donkey let the crap flow up at Mt Rainier.Â
In other words..it's just like the water along the beaches near Victoria.
More maintenance deferred? Oh yes we need another bond issue??
Too much waste --budget and otherwise, evidently.