August 4, 2009

New permit for S. Wastewater Treatment Plant

BELLEVUE — The Washington State Department of Ecology has issued a draft discharge permit to King County’s South Wastewater Treatment Plant in Renton. The permit would be more stringent.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit is a key tool to provide water quality protection for Puget Sound. Ecology wants public comments on the proposed five-year re-issuance. The public comment period will run through Sept. 18.

The treatment plant serves an area of 152 square miles and 25 cities and utility districts in parts of south and east King County. It treats an average of 70 million gallons of incoming sewage per day. Ecology issued a similar permit in June of 2009 for King County’s larger West Point Treatment Plant in Seattle.

New or updated provisions in the renewed South Plant permit include: more restrictive dilution factors than in the previous permit, increased monitoring of priority and toxic pollutants in discharge, more extensive tests for sediments toxicity and new requirements to track the input of industrial chemicals into the sewer system, among other actions.

A presentation and public hearing will be held on Sept. 3 at King County’s Regional Library in Bellevue. The presentation will begin at 6 p.m. and a formal public hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Written comments may be sent to Tricia Miller, permit coordinator at Ecology at tmil461@ecy.wa.gov with South Plant Permit in the subject line. For more information, visit http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/northwest_permits.html.