Drafter

Clerk 02/25/2021

Title

AN ORDINANCE making a net supplemental appropriation of $64,624,124 to the water quality construction fund; and amending the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget Ordinance, Ordinance 19210, Section 129, as amended, and Attachment A, as amended.

Body

PREAMBLE:

King County owns and operates the West Point Treatment Plant that provides wastewater treatment for residents and businesses in:  the city of Seattle, including Seattle's combined stormwater/wastewater sewer system; the city of Shoreline; north Lake Washington; and parts of southern Snohomish County.

The King County executive issued an Executive Declaration of Emergency on February 25, 2021, declaring that immediate steps must be taken to improve power reliability at the West Point Treatment Plant.

It is imperative that the West Point Treatment Plant have reliable power, as the largest treatment plant in Washington state based on wastewater volumes treated, to continue to reliably treat higher wastewater flows from a growing population and increased stormwater volumes and to comply with regulatory obligations and prepare for climate change.

There has been an increase in bypass events at the West Point Treatment Plant related to the quality of power delivered at the plant.  In the last twenty years, there have been fifteen bypass events that were caused by voltage sags and other power disturbances on the Seattle City Light power feed, with eight of those events occurring in the last five years.

The Washington state Department of Ecology issued Administrative Order 19477 to King County on February 2, 2021, regarding unauthorized bypasses of the secondary treatment system, when stormwater and sewage that has received some treatment is blended with wastewater that has been fully treated and disinfected, at the West Point Treatment Plant between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020.

Administrative Order 19477 noted that six of the unanticipated, unauthorized bypasses of the secondary treatment system between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020, were caused by power reliability issues related to the West Point Treatment Plant's main electrical power system.

The West Point Treatment Plant includes a cogeneration system that could be modified to enable greater resiliency to power disruptions, allowing the plant to withstand voltage sags that can impact critical equipment.

The addition of a battery energy storage system at the West Point Treatment Plant in addition to, or in place of, a modification to the cogeneration system may significantly improve power reliability in the near term.

It is urgent that King County analyze and develop a cost estimate for a new, dedicated power line in coordination with Seattle City Light to improve longer-term power reliability and avoid the power disruptions that lead to consequential voltage sags approximately every two months at the West Point Treatment Plant.

Any delay in improving power reliability at the West Point Treatment Plant could impact compliance with Administrative Order 19477 and presents a risk to public health and the environment.

                     BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:

                     SECTION 1.  Ordinance 19210, Section 129, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

                     From the water quality construction fund there are hereby appropriated and authorized to be disbursed the following amounts for the specific projects identified in Attachment A to this ordinance (Proposed Ordinance 2021-XXXX).

Fund                     Fund Name                     2021-2022

3611                     WATER QUALITY CONSTRUCTION                     $64,624,124

TOTAL                     $64,624,124

                     SECTION 2.  Attachment A to this ordinance hereby amends Attachment A to

Ordinance 19210, as amended, by adding thereto and inserting therein the projects listed in Attachment A to this ordinance.