May 15, 2000

Vashon residents in 10-year struggle to fix sewage hazard

VASHON ISLAND -- Eighty years ago, Vashon Island was a popular vacation spot. Property owners built summer homes and cabins here, without much concern about wastewater. After all, the charming, waterfront cottages were just temporary housing for holidays. Plus, plenty of salmon could still be found in its streams and wildlife was abundant.

Gradually, however, vacation cottages became year-round homes, as people established permanent residency on Vashon. Still, wastewater was dealt with separately, consistent with the independent, rural lifestyles of island residents.

Mark and Carol Salkind on the beach in the Beulah Park/Cove area. In 1990 the state determined that 98 percent of the septic systems in this neighborhood were failing.

In the late 1980s, as environmental awareness increased among Vashon's citizens, so did public health concerns. It was now obvious that the individual septic systems in some island neighborhoods were grossly inadequate; those on the waterfront posed particular concerns in terms of runoff and overflow.

On July 12, 1990, the state Department of Health, in conjunction with the state Department of Ecology, declared Vashon's Beulah Park/Cove community, on the island's west side, a public health hazard, with "significant potential to cause illness."

The state determined that 98 percent of the septic systems in this neighborhood were failing. State evaluators observed sewage in streams, in waterways where children regularly played and in people's basements. Raw sewage from the former Cove Motel flowed toward Puget Sound during low tides, where beach combers collected shells and driftwood. High levels of fecal coliform were detected there.

On Jan. 11, 1991, the same declaration was made by the same agencies about Vashon's Bunker Trail community on the north side of the island near the ferry terminal. Here, 64 percent of the single family residences' systems were found to be failing and evaluators observed raw sewage discharging on the beach. Structural and maintenance problems for a restaurant and apartment building resulted in the direct flow of sewage into Puget Sound. Shellfish harvested on the shoreline contained high amounts of fecal coliform that exceeded safe levels; the source was determined to be human feces. The state health department issued an advisory against consuming the shellfish.

Both declarations contained clauses recognizing that the lots of these homes and surrounding lands were too small to accommodate modified, individual systems. The moist composition of the wetland soil further obstructed remediation prospects. It became clear that what Vashon needed was a community wastewater system -- as soon as possible.

Long-time resident Mark Salkind, now Vashon's sewer district commissioner, and wife, Carol, launched efforts to develop a community septic system to address the health hazards threatening humans. This, in turn, would help protect the health of wildlife, such as salmon, whose numbers in island streams were dwindling by this time.

However, one decade later, Vashon residents are still waiting for a community septic system.

"I truly thought the government would have stepped in by this time to say, 'Hey, what's the delay?' but it's just the opposite," said Salkind, who is himself a former federal project manager for the U.S. Navy.

During the past 11 years, Salkind has battled bureaucracy -- particularly at the county and state levels, he said -- testified at hearings, spoken with senators, pleaded for permits and fought for funding.

Salkind worked with engineer John Wilson of Earth Tech of Bellevue to conduct biological assessments, complete the State Environmental Policy Act checklist and design a sewage system so unique, Wilson delivered a paper on it to an international audience of engineers in Auckland, New Zealand last March. The conference was sponsored by the Water and Waste Association of New Zealand, in conjunction with the U.S. Water Environment Federation, a trade association.

"It's crude stuff applied with a modern, yet subtle, understanding of the needs of the community," Salkind said of the system.

In 1990, this warning sign was posted in Beulah Park/Cove community to alert people that conditions there had a "significant potential to cause illness." A spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts construction of a community septic system will begin this summer.

In this system, wastewater would be "vacuumed" up through pipes and moved to a pumping station uphill, away from the beaches. Here, the wastewater would be moved through a modular system of septic tanks, then recirculated through sand gravel filters. Eventually, it would go to an ultraviolet chamber for disinfecting, then up to a plot of land slated to become a park "commons" area as part of the project. Beneath this parcel, sub-surface "drip" irrigation will move water through filters to remove remaining particles. Then the flow reverses, to ultimately disperse small amounts of water into the ground at intervals.

"We expect the water to be twice as good as the stream water on the island, the equivalent of tertiary treatment," said Salkind.

More recently, Salkind has secured a contractor to build the system, Strider of Bellingham. The estimated cost of the project is $6.5 million, most of which will paid for through government grants and loans. The remaining $2 million will be collectively paid by Vashon homeowners as part of their property assessments.

Now everything is ready to begin construction -- everything, except Endangered Species Act regulations designed to protect salmon. And, although residents say there are no salmon left in Vashon's streams, Salkind fears the process of obtaining permission at the federal level will further delay construction.

Salkind explained that, concurrent with salmon season, construction on the beaches can only take place within a certain window of time this summer. Even then, construction activity can only take place during low tide for some phases of the project. So Salkind met with representatives the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last winter and discovered that the Corps must defer to the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to ensure the project is in compliance with the ESA. The coho salmon, bull trout and bald eagles native to Vashon are federally protected species.

Salkind claims that permission to begin construction "was verbally rescinded" at this pre-construction meeting last winter. But a spokesperson for the Corps refutes this.

"They contacted us and we arranged a pre-construction meeting... we've spent an enormous amount of time, and bent over backwards, to expedite this," said Gail Terzi, acting section chief of the Corps application review section. "Yes, they got caught in the middle. But we put them on the fast track to ask for final concurrence (from NMFS and USFWS). I suspect they will be able to start construction this summer."

Steven Landino, NMFS Washington habitat branch chief, said he first learned of this situation in mid-April. He said he is in the process of issuing a "not likely to adversely affect" letter to the Corps, essentially giving the Corps permission to approve the project.

As of Friday, the Corps had not received letters from either NMFS or USFWS.

Wilson said "it's hard to point a finger" in this situation, but said he believes one of the problems with obtaining permits for cleanup at the county level is the way ordinances read.

"County ordinances are written around development," he said. "You have to do all the things you have to do for a development project... To spend 11 years to take care of something that public authorities consider a health hazard makes no sense."

"If a road was impassable, the county would clear it and secure permits after the fact. But they won't allow that for a sewage problem," said Wilson.

"So long as the job order remains open and we do nothing, it's costing us money. People have to charge against something for their time, even while they're sitting there!" noted Salkind. In addition to Earth Tech and Strider, the Vashon Sewer District has retained the services of Vanir, a contract management firm based in Bellevue, to manage the project.

"It isn't like we're trying to build something. We're just trying to fix a health hazard. You would think that'd be an emergency. But it's been 11 years," said Carol Salkind.