Dedication ceremony to celebrate new Vashon Island wastewater treatment facility

After eight years of planning and construction, King County is inviting people to celebrate the completion of a clean-water project on Vashon Island that will protect local beaches and improve water quality in Puget Sound.

The county's newest wastewater treatment plant will be dedicated at a special event:

Saturday, May 12

10 a.m. to noon

9615 SW 171st Street, Vashon

Scheduled speakers include County Executive Ron Sims; County Councilmember Dow Constantine; Wastewater Treatment Division director Christie True; and Ed Murphy, chair of the Vashon Sewer District. 

The event will feature plant tours, refreshments and information about the wastewater treatment process and why it’s the most effective water pollution prevention method in our region.

People will also be able to learn about the benefits of the new Vashon facility. In addition to a more modern, reliable treatment plant, the project also features a new outfall that was extended an additional 1,450 feet into Puget Sound, which will protect geoduck beds in the area. The outfall construction also presented an opportunity to remove 5.3 acres of derelict gill nets in Colvos Passage, which posed safety risks to divers and marine life.

In 1999, the Vashon Sewer District contracted with King County to operate and upgrade its aging wastewater system, which was having trouble meeting water quality standards.

The $7 million plant, which underwent testing and start up in late 2006, will serve about 425 residential and commercial customers in and around Vashon Island’s main business area.  

For more information about the Vashon Island project, please visit the Web site at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/vashon/

Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities at the May 12 event can be arranged by calling Jo Sullivan at 206-296-8361 or 711 TTY.

People enjoy clean water and a healthy environment because of King County's wastewater treatment program. The county’s Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer utilities and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.