Heathfield Pipe Repair and Environmental Restoration

Sept. 13 Update

King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) is contacting you to provide an update on work at the Heathfield Pump Station and the environmental restoration in surrounding areas. You may unsubscribe from these emails at any time.

The following is a summary of our activities to date and an update on what to expect in the next week.

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Pipe repairs at the Heathfield Pump Station

Following the Aug. 15 wastewater spill caused by a damaged force main pipe, King County quickly mobilized a contractor to replace about 100 feet of the damaged pipe behind the pump station. The pipe replacement work was completed on Sept. 4. Temporary site restoration began after.

Activities completed the week of Sept. 9:

King County’s contractor completed temporary site restoration behind the pump station. Restoration activities included backfilling excavations and placing Best Management Practices (also known as BMPs). BMPs are devices or restoration practices that help manage stormwater runoff while the site is temporarily restored.

Operation staff also worked inside the pump station to install and test a new valve. The new valve replaces the valve that was damaged during the Aug. 15 spill.

Activities planned for the week of Sept. 16:

Operations staff will continue to work inside the pump station.

What to expect for near neighbors:

Vehicles will come and go from the pump station property while operation staff work inside.

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Vasa (Squibbs) Creek

Activities completed the week of Sept. 9:

On Monday, Sept. 9, crews collected sediment samples from select locations in the creek and worked with the County’s Environmental Lab to have them processed.

Activities planned for the week of Sept. 16:

We expect to have the results of all sediment testing (including the samples collected the week of Sept. 3) next week. Once the County’s Environmental Services Unit has reviewed the results, they will determine next steps.

We ask that the public continue to avoid contact with the creek until next steps for restoration have been determined.

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Pipe relining and future work

King County is in the early stages of designing a pipe relining project to rehabilitate up to 1,700 feet of the damaged force main. We are working with the City of Bellevue and the Washington State Department of Transportation to secure permits for this work. We are also working with a contractor to begin this work as soon as possible. We expect the relining effort to take at least six months to design, construct, and fully restore the work area.

For more information about the relining effort, please see last week’s email update. We will share more details about the relining plan and expected impacts as they become available.

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Public information and outreach

We will continue to share updates via email with the community weekly while activities continue at the pump station and nearby environmental areas.

Once updates have been sent via email, they will be posted to our project webpage at kingcounty.gov/heathfield-pipeline-repair. You will also find past updates on the page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not approach workers onsite, for your safety and the safety of the crew. Instead, call the Community Services leads at (206) 263-4088 and leave a message. Someone will return your call as soon as possible.