Neighbors fear project is stirring up Lake Washington toxins
»Play Video
KENMORE, Wash. -- The ongoing 520 Bridge project could be stirring up more than just concern on parts of Lake Washington.
People who live in Kenmore, where there are known toxins on the lake bottom, are worried that barges and tugs assembling big pieces of the new 520 Bridge are kicking up that tainted muck.
Even in chilly weather, Kenmore's Waterfront Park is beloved. But lying silently beneath the muck near the beach is dioxin and PCB, which are among the most dangerous contaminants.
Now neighbors are worried that a newcomer is stirring up that toxic mix.
"Well, I won't let my dog swim in the lake here at all," said Kenmore resident Pat O'Brien.
Concerned neighbors say they feel used.
"It feels like they're using our town to build the bridge. With no regard to the town at all,' said Jirius Isaac of the Kenmore Action Network.
The action network is concerned about the barges that are filled up with heavy parts of the 520 Bridge. The barges are floated down a narrow canal, where very large tug boats pull them out -- stirring up the muck in the process.
Photos taken by neighbors show the water full of sediment from the barges and tug propellers, which sometimes run aground.
"It's (making noises). So, it's churning up everything. And then you look at the water afterwards and it's brown -- like café latte color," said Elizabeth Mooney of the Kenmore Action Network.
Under the marina, the muck has very high levels of dioxin and PCB. And neighbors also suspect the constructions site itself may have contaminants buried underground -- remnants of a dump full of houses that were demolished to build Interstate 5.
The problem is that no one has tested the stirred-up water to see whether dioxin and PCB is actually getting lifted up and spread, as neighbors fear.
"I'm not the expert, but if you're going to have to stop the violation that's potentially contaminating north Lake Washington, then maybe you bring in smaller barges?" Mooney said.
Documents show the Departments of Ecology and Transportation have asked the contractors building the 520 Bridge -- Kiewit/General/Manson -- to make certain they're not violating permits at the Kenmore site. But it's unclear if stirring up toxic muck under the water was even foreseen.
"There's been no protection, as the dioxins are continually allowed to be disturbed," said Anne Hurst of the Kenmore Action Network.
The state and city of Kenmore are negotiating a long-term clean-up and redevelopment plan, but that doesn't address immediate concerns about what's getting stirred up in the water right now.
On Tuesday, representatives from Kiewit said the company is using shallow draft tugs to minimize sediment disturbances. The company says it's also working with the state to assure they are meeting all rules
as gramps used to say, if it ain't broke don't fix it! the 520 bridge works fine now. why are we replacing it? the old pontoons don't leak. the new ones about to take their place do. i say cut our losses and scrap the replacement while we still can. and please, take this as a lesson NOT to dig a hole under downtown seattle.
Wow people, get into a plastic bag and then zip it up. Problem solved for everyone...
 @Grumpa Love it
KOMO report is an overview of North Lake Washington's dilemma. Peter Kiewitt and associates disregard the Clean Water Act and the WSDOT FEIS. The FEIS is an environmental survey that speaks to intensity of use, in which WSDOT said project would use only one barge, round trip, per day. Number of trips far exceed that, up to 15 round trips daily and counting. The sediment disturbance in in itself is a violation of the Clean Water Act. WSDOT daily defends Kiewitt/General/Manson, the contractor consortium caught drinking on the job, producing shoddy pontoons, and in Kenmore not following environmental law while shelling out breathtaking sums of money to K/G/M.
The Army Corps guidelines forbid more than 10 pptr of Dioxin to be dredged/dispersed into Lake Washington open waters from a federal navigation channel. In 2005 the center of the channel tested 13.2 pptr next to Kenmore Air; in 2011 the Harbour Village Marina sediments next to the Kenmore Navigation Channel tested 90 pptr. It seems both the Army Corps and Ecology thought the barges would not disturb the sediments. Yet Ecology working files list Saint Edward State Park as a shore of concern for spread of contaminants from the Kenmore Yard if developed. This year WSDOT developed the Kenmore Yard peninsula from predominantly a stock yard, its historic use, to a major manufacturing site with high intensity of use. Please take a moment to show your thanks for North Lake Washington, our parks, our children, our pets and comment to Ecology Public Relations, lalt@ecy.wa.gov, that we need water column testing and a turbidity monitor in Kenmore. Pass this on. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving. Ann
Â
Why would anyone want to eat fish from the Sound area?
"The problem is that no one has tested the stirred-up water to see whether dioxin and PCB is actually getting lifted up and spread, as neighbors fear."
Â
So, why don't they test it? Â Why have this article about people concerned about the "what if's" and the fears that the tugs "may be" stirring up contaminates? Â There may be no story here at all. Â Or there may be. Â But it isn't a story until there are FACTS!
someone @ KOMO sure has a dislike for this 520 project
Have to be a tad bit crazy to swim in Lake Washington or any local lake without a complete wet suit on to prevent "lake itch" or numerous deadly diseases or toxins that will cling on to you..
Dioxins and PCBs are tremendously bad for you, and recent lab tests confirm the effects from Dioxins are clearly present in the grand babies of exposed rats. These toxins are known and documented to be on the floor of north Lake WA.
Â
Kenmore lake front is precious, why can't we prioritize keeping it clean and us safe?
and there aint crap that you can do about. At least anything we can afford. Build the darn bridge so we can build another in 50 years.
So Lake Washington is just a giant sewer?
@Harry reems They just showed how the storm drains put raw sewage into the lake at multiple locations during heavy rains. I can't believe people actually swim, etc. in that cesspool.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/flood-feces-storm-water-overwhelms-sewer-system/nTB55/
 @Harry reems  @Klondiko waahhhhh swam in the lake for 30 years no problems. Yeah don't swim in November....likely, very likely
 @Klondiko Yuk!!
LOL - how come they're not moaning about the folks who dumped the toxins into the lake to begin with?
@KOMO_Sapiens I watched the story about it last night; no one simply dumped toxins. The mess is the result of the homes that the state demolished to make room for I-5 in the 1950s. The site was where the homes were demolished and toxins leeched from the area into the water
 @northwestsurfer Fair enough - though that's the exact definition of toxins getting dumped into the lake. If these gadabouts are going to be peeved by the state, they should be peeved for that dumping, not the bridge building.Â
Kenmore Action Network, now there's a group with alot of free time on thier hands!
 @Larrygg KOMO Action Network. Wasting real news space since however when....
it's not the bridge stirring toxins, is komonews, and others who simply having nothing else to do.
@Common Sense That is the job of KOMO to inform, they didn't create the mess. Toxins in Lake Washington is a serious environmental issue as far as I'm concerned.
 @commonHuskyfan  @Common Really? Please inform us....what are the toxin levels in the water in that area?
So then they're saying they don't want a new bridge because it will stir up the water.
Please make up your mind.
I do believe KOMO is on a mission to single handedly ensure the bridge doesn't get built.
 @Surveyor1 Maybe KOMO is on a mission to single handedly ensure the bridge gets built right?
"it's brown -- like café latte color,"
Â
ah, i didn't know this was belize. Â
What happened to the millions of dollars for environmental studies to prevent this? When will the tax payers of this state wake up and get a clue to the fraud and abuse of The Washington State Department Of Transportation, SDOT, and every federal government program giving these clueless morons our tax money?Â
 @hinterland Everyone is awake and have facts not clues, thanks to KOMO, but what can we do? What is your suggestion?
Yet more nonsense from those that wouldn't know a protective cup if they were drinking coffee from one, yet beside themselves if you're mowing your lawn without your helmet on with the integrated HEPA filtration system. Thank you Seattle and KC for keeping us amused daily.
And yet these very people are the ones screaming about how their commuted is f-ed up and how they want a new bridge. And once they got the new bridge, they decided they wanted more conveniences on the bridge and then....
Â
Typical King County NIMBY-ism....
 @svensson Kenmore is at the north end of the lake and does need to
use the bridges. From there individuals can choose to drive around the lake
either on the east, or the west side.
@pete1427 Certainly they can, but they're still a large part of the Lake Washington elite who feel that the rest of the state exists to fund their commute upgrades and light rail. Let's face it, there won't be any of super-duper mass transit plan available to anyone outside of King County in our lifetimes and yet our taxes went up to pay for it.
Â
Further, the Lake Washington NIMBY is a common bird, rearing it's head every November as elections are held for bond issues with it's annoying 'Not here! Not here!' cry. Kenmore was a candidate for the Brightwater sewage treatement plant as I recall, and the NIMBY's crowed so loud that King County sewage is now being treated in Snohomish County.
 @svensson  @pete1427 To be fair, Brightwater will be serving a fairly large portion of south Snohomish County as well as north King County.
"it's brown -- like café latte color,"
Pffft.
clearly not from around here.