City concern grows

In an Aug. 4 letter by Mayor Cathy VonWald addressed to King County Executive Ron Sims, Mayor VonWald stated, “As you know, the City of Woodinville is concerned about the Brightwater project’s unresolved risks of seismic rupture and the resultant potential harm from catastrophic release of millions of gallons of waste and chemicals into the surrounding environment – including the city. These concerns have been brought to the fore through the expertise of Dr. Robert Yeats, an internationally recognized expert, as well as through observations by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) of recent seismic site tests by the county. The city has sought satisfactory resolution of these, and other project issues, through established public participation processes such as comments on plans and permits, correspondence with county officials and, as a last resort, following established procedures for questioning the Binding Site Plan. …

“Until recently there was an expectation that, at a minimum, additional seismic testing on the Brightwater plant site would be properly conducted, would be subject to direction and review by agencies with expertise, and would therefore assist in resolving outstanding seismic concerns. Unfortunately, the recent seismic testing by the county did not meet these expectations, as reflected in comments by Dr. Yeats, as well as observations by the USGS. Further, it appears that the county’s interpretation of the limited data obtained from that testing leapt to conclusions which, per these commentators, were not the only or even the first ones which the data would suggest.

“The county’s openness and consultation with the city has appeared to decrease proportionately with Woodinville’s articulation of concerns about the seismic issue in particular. This, and the county’s methodical foreclosure of channels normally available for raising such concerns, leaves in question the county’s … compliance with the City / County Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

“As you may know, the City Council met in mid-July and authorized exploration of the possibility of triggering the dispute resolution mechanism under the MOA, if unfolding circumstances warranted such an approach. Since then, the county has made it plain that it is seeking to foreclose all avenues available for meaningful comment and administrative and judicial review of outstanding critical questions concerning Brightwater.

“For example, within the last few days, the county has asked Judge Allendoerfer of Snohomish County Superior Court to retract his determination that the city has standing to monitor, question, and challenge the county’s Brightwater actions. And, within days of that action, in a hearing before the Court of Appeals, Division I, the county persisted in seeking to preclude review by its own hearing examiner of the adequacy of the project Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement concerning seismic issues.

“The outstanding issues and the county’s course of conduct are inconsistent with the city’s understanding of the parties’ undertakings under the MOA. Therefore, we are tendering this letter notice pursuant to Section 10 of the MOA triggering the MOA’s dispute resolution process. Under that process, each party must propose ‘three candidates it proposes to act as a non-binding mediator within ten days following notification.’ The city would be happy to accelerate this process by conferring and agreeing on a mediator at the outset. In the alternative, the city believes that, with a modicum of good faith, a meeting among seismic experts could result in a protocol for resolution of the outstanding issues without extensive mediation procedures or litigation. The city would be prepared to facilitate such a meeting and resolution on an immediate basis.

“We look forward to hearing from you in response to this notification and to our proposals for resolution,” Mayor VonWald’s letter concluded.

In a prepared statement released by the city, the mayor stated, “We have legitimate concerns about seismic conditions on the site, construction of buildings over known earthquake faults and what we believe is inadequate data collection. We look to the county to adequately and immediately address our concerns as we will be the most impacted city should a major disaster or emergency occur on the site.”

Executive addresses community concerns in press release

As of Aug. 10, the City of Woodinville has received no response from Executive Sims.

However, in a press release issued Aug. 7, King County Executive Ron Sims was quoted as saying, “Over the past several weeks, media reports on King County’s seismic trenching investigation at the Brightwater treatment plant site have prompted concerns among community members.“I’d like to take the opportunity to address these concerns, clarify information about the purpose of the trenching, and discuss our plans to make detailed information about the trenching available to the public.

“In June, King County conducted a trenching investigation as part of a 2005 agreement with Snohomish County to ensure the safety and stability of buildings where treatment process chemicals will be stored.

“The current seismic investigations are not focused on the entire Brightwater plant site, but on the proposed location of these two buildings. The trenching was not conducted as a research exercise, but to answer a very specific question related to Brightwater engineering and design.

“Certain chemicals used in treating wastewater should not be mixed. Brightwater design includes two separate chemical storage facilities that will be self-contained on different locations of the site. The recent seismic trenching exercises are an added measure of safety to help us find the best locations for these buildings.

“The trenching was led by Jeffrey Keaton, Ph.D., a California-based engineering geologist with extensive expertise in surface fault rupture hazards and building code compliance. Dr. Keaton is a highly qualified professional whose work is respected worldwide.

“Dr. Keaton’s preliminary findings showed no evidence of active faults under the chemical buildings. Features that were identified would not be considered active faults under the International Building Code 2003. But a final report coming out later in August will give us a more detailed assessment of the data.

“In our legally binding 2005 agreement with Snohomish County, we committed to making design changes and moving the chemical buildings if evidence of active faulting is found. And we have every intention of fulfilling that commitment if that is the recommendation of Dr. Keaton and his team. …

“King County is a regional provider of a range of services, including critical transportation and utility infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing population. And because we live in a seismically active region, our responsibility is even more significant.

“In the process to site and design Brightwater, the scientific community has been key in increasing our understanding that faults exist throughout our region, and that new faults can occur in the future – there is no way to completely avoid them in siting and building infrastructure. What we can do, however, is prepare for an earthquake by designing infrastructure to the highest seismic standards.

“Brightwater will be built to meet and even exceed the stringent seismic codes outlined in the International Building Code 2003. The treatment plant is being built to withstand a significant earthquake centered anywhere in the Puget Sound Region, including on the treatment plant site itself.

“King County has already conducted the most comprehensive seismic investigation for a wastewater treatment plant in the Puget Sound area. Our analysis also greatly exceeds the seismic studies done on other major regional projects, including some that are close to or cross the Seattle Fault. …

“We look forward to sharing the final report on the trenching data when it is released in August,” Sims’ press release stated.

Yeats: City deserves assurances

In a letter to The Woodinville Weekly, Dr. Yeats, the city’s seismic consultant and emeritus professor of geology at Oregon State University and author of Living with Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon State University Press, 2004), stated, “The City of Woodinville has valid reasons to dispute recent findings issued by King County that there is no evidence of active earthquake faults under the Brightwater regional wastewater treatment facility. Brightwater meets the definition of ‘critical facility’ as defined by the International Building Code (IBC) … because if its operations were to fail, the results could be catastrophic. The IBC is indisputable that a critical facility cannot be built over active earthquake faults. The city seeks assurances from King County as the developer and Snohomish County as the regulatory agency that construction meets all applicable codes to ensure public safety.

“Brightwater will be constructed within the Southern Whidbey Island fault zone (SWIF), identified by the USGS in 2003 as an active earthquake fault. The City is rightfully concerned that trench excavations by King County to evaluate seismic conditions were too limited in their depth and scope and that construction of the facility on an active earthquake fault violates the IBC, placing a great risk to public health and safety and Woodinville’s natural environment.

“King County recognizes SWIF as an active fault, but it has addressed only the potential for seismic shaking, not rupture of the ground surface. The worst-case scenario described in King County’s Final Environmental Impact Statement is not realistic for Woodinville. What is most frightening for the community is a major toxic chemical spill and release of untreated sewage into local waterways should an earthquake occur.

“More information is needed and can be obtained with additional trenching throughout the site, taking advantage of the offer by the USGS to help in analysis of trench exposures. Trenching performed with ‘standard and professional care’ exposes faults within the earth’s surface that can be radiocarbon-dated. In my professional opinion, King County has not done its due diligence because trenching has not occurred in every place where a surface building is proposed.

“Although Brightwater is located north of city limits, the city will be most impacted should a disaster event associated with the facility occur. The city deserves assurances that Brightwater’s worst-case scenario doesn’t become the citizens’ burden to bear,” Dr. Yeats stated in his recent letter to the Weekly.

SKEA concerns grow too

Sno-King Environmental Alliance, SKEA, a community action group funded by over 200 households, submitted to The Woodinville Weekly a copy of a letter sent to Executive Sims challenging King County’s commitment to seismic safety. It stated, in part, “King County only allowed the USGS a few brief hours to review the trench, and chose to deny entry to qualified and documented Washington state geologists who may have also offered highly qualified opinions of the trenches. The USGS provided King County with their interpretations of the trenching which indicated to them evidence of faulting. However, King County rashly issued a press release stating to the contrary that there was no evidence of faulting. This appears to be based purely upon the observations of Mr. Keaton who, unlike the staff of the USGS, is not a seismologist, has previously made incorrect assessments about other active faults on the site, and who has not even produced a final report yet.

“King County seems to be putting this project and public health and safety at risk. The community surrounding the Route 9 site has been keenly aware of the possibility that additional faults may exist on the site. To date, the USGS observations seem to indicate this is a strong possibility: (There is) one confirmed active fault, lineament 4, at the north end of the site; (there is) one potential fault, lineament X, at the south end (of the site; and there is) another potential fault, lineament GA, and two locations under the planned chemical buildings showing evidence of faulting in the middle of the site. These examples alone are enough to raise anyone’s concerns.“While it is true that the entire region is susceptible to shaking from earthquakes and that cannot be avoided, King County faces a different problem. In this instance, King County is choosing to site a major sewage treatment plant in the middle of an active fault zone that is capable not just of shaking but of ground movement of many feet either vertically or horizontally. There are no engineering practices that allow a facility to withstand those stresses and accordingly the International Building Code prevents structures from being built over an active fault. That is why it is so important that King County conclusively determine if there are any faults crossing the site.King County can either trench the entire site to ensure that no faults run under the facility or select a site that is not in the middle of an active surface rupture fault zone. To do neither of these puts public health and safety at risk.

“The public has attempted to address these critically important issues in good faith utilizing the administrative appeal process adopted by the county specifically for the Brightwater project. However, the county has taken extensive means to avoid this appeal, claiming that (King County’s) own hearing examiner does not have the authority to hear an appeal of these issues. King County has adopted what must be a highly costly litigation strategy first to pursue a King County Superior Court ruling to terminate the examiner’s authority to hear this appeal, and when that was not successful (in terminating the examiner’s authority), (King County took the case) to the Court of Appeals.

“Does spending a year in litigation to avoid an appeal of these critical issues and consistently ignoring USGS research and recommendations really portray to the public that seismic safety is a priority for King County? Is it fiscally and socially responsible to continue with tunnel construction and site preparation for this project without resolving these fundamental seismic issues and deeming the site completely clear of active seismic hazards?

“At every turn, King County has attempted to curtail rather than promote research into the potential seismic hazards at the Route 9 site. There are hundreds of residents in the community surrounding the project site who are keenly aware of these issues, and they believe that King County’s actions to date will jeopardize their personal health and safety,” the SKEA letter to Executive Sims stated.