Aug. 6, 2008 Brightwater project crew investigating reports of turbidity in Bothell’s Horse Creek Employees from King County’s Brightwater project and the state Department of Ecology responded quickly today to reports of turbid water in Bothell’s Horse Creek. The affected area includes an estimated 3,000-foot portion of the creek that extends from the 9400 block of Bothell Way N.E. downstream to the Sammamish Slough at Bothell Landing. Environmental investigators from King County and Ecology believe the incident is related to a Brightwater tunneling operation currently under way in Kenmore. The county’s contractor, Vinci/Parsons/Frontier-Kemper JV, is currently building a 11,615-foot tunnel from the Brightwater North Kenmore portal at the intersection of 80th Ave. N.E. and N.E. 192nd to the North Creek portal located at N.E.195th Street and North Creek Parkway in Bothell. About 3,300 feet of the tunnel is completed, and the tunneling machine is estimated to be about 130 feet below ground. The county will cooperate with Ecology’s investigation to determine if the tunneling machine came into contact with a ground water source, possibly causing silt and slurry to seep to the surface nearly 1,000 feet from the tunneling machine. The slurry contains bentonite, a nontoxic clay material. The incident is not posing immediate risks to public health or safety. -###-
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://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/newsroom/. Related Information Brightwater Sammamish Watershed
King County Wastewater Treatment Division
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