Thursday 4:20pm: Washington Department of Ecology now reports that the actual overflow amount is 165,000 gallons — a no-contact advisory is still in effect.
Update (Thursday AM): The sewage overflow was caused by a clogged sewer line that overflowed into a catch basin and then drained into a stormwater outfall, Julianne Ruffner from the Washington Departments of Ecology & Health tells My Ballard.
That outfall drains into the Puget Sound near North Beach, just north of Golden Gardens. Ruffner says samples were collected at Golden Gardens that showed elevated levels of fecal bacteria. The water is being closely monitored, and they’ll find out more about the updated contamination levels later today.
Original: A massive sewage overflow has made Golden Gardens Beach unhealthy for swimming.
Seattle and King County Public Health have issued a “no-contact” health advisory at the beach after 16,500 gallons of sewage spilled into the area. Closure signs have been posted at public access points — the public is advised to avoid contact with the water.
According to the Washington Department of Ecology, contact with fecal contaminated waters can result in gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections, and other illnesses — kids and the elderly may be more vulnerable than others.
We’ll update when it’s safe to swim again — in the meantime you can follow the Department of Ecology on Facebook for updates on beach water quality around the state.
great. it would be wonderful if simple infrastructure projects were given higher priority than SJW pet projects in this city..roads, bridges, waste water treatment – yep, kind of boring for our wild n crazy progressives but we need to refocus.
You should move away to a conservative state and city where this kind of thing never happens, troll.
wonderful comment! thanks for the input! i guess basic city functions aren’t for everyone, but i can respect that in a non threatening seattle way….
so the Magnolia bridge….is that also not worthy of attention?
in all seriousness, i love, respect, and am fully compassionate towards your feelings either way! you are loved and important!
Magnolia bridge will just lead to more pollution.
Yes, of course the Magnolia Bridge and other simple infrastructure projects are worthy of consideration, and should take priority IMO.
My problem is with your comment is the ignorant, childish and frankly boring attempts at insulting progressives (or “SJW” as you call them), as if this kind of thing doesn’t happen in Conservative states and cities. It actually does, therefore your comment is ignorant and obviously only intended to troll. Someday actually have a real conversation with a Progressive, Liberal, Libertarian, or other Conservatives, and you’ll find they all believe that simple infrastructure projects are priority, but none believe that insults and trolling are helpful.
If you continue to make stupid troll-like comments such as yours above, you’ll continue to get the responses such as mine.
How inclusive of you and your comment. Perhaps if this city spent less on heroin addicts and all that goes with them we’d have more $$ for you pet projects and infrastructure. As if the BILLION spent so far isn’t enough. Perhaps it’s YOU that would feel more comfortable in N. Korea? I hear Venezuela is nice this time of the year too.
Please explain and detail my “pet projects”. Also please explain how spending less on heroin addicts will help at this point?
While you are at it, also explain why I’d feel more comfortable in N. Korea or Venezuela? I feel comfortable here in Seattle, and the PNW. Based on most of your comments here, you hate everything about Seattle and are miserable here, so it seems you would feel more comfortable elsewhere.
If you took even ten seconds to do some basic research, instead of making a fool of yourself on a neighborhood blog, you would see that both SPU and King County are spending billions to upgrade our sewage capacity. But hey, you get to take an e-swing at SJWs, whatever that is!
I’ll give you a freebee: look up SPU’s Ship Canal Water Quality. You’re welcome.
Oh CRAP!
If this is the case, why doesn’t it show up on the King County CSO website?
https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/wastewater/cso-status.aspx
It’s not a CSO. A separated system overflowed due to a clog.
Wasn’t there a massive overflow at the Discovery Park treatment facility in 2017 that required serious repairs? Glad to see we fixed that. Lol.
Not the same issue.
What was the cause of the spill?
Sewer clog overflow to catch basin.
Absolutely pathetic…what does any of this “conversation” have to do with the fact the Seattle dumped 16500 gallons of raw sewage into the sound? You should triple that number and it would be more accurate, still wondering why dead whales are washing up?
What’s the big deal? Vancouver Island still doesn’t have a sewage treatment facility and Victoria dumps all of their sewage directly into the Sound.
“Victoria dumps millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca each day, much of it containing high levels of amonia, fecal coliform bacteria, metals and other toxins.”
https://q13fox.com/2018/07/24/plan-on-track-to-stop-victorias-pumping-of-sewage-into-strait-of-juan-de-fuca/
Please tell us what caused this. Was it a pipe failure or an overflow or something else? Seems more pertinent than the bickering.
Seattle Public Utilities
“UPDATE 6/27/19:
The overflow was triggered by a blockage in the sewer system north of the park. The blockage was caused by tree roots and materials like wipes which, despite what might be on their labels, are not “flushable.” A good time to remember: don’t flush trash!”