Friday, December 30, 2011

Hey salmon, suck on this runoff!

Just where does all this construction runoff go? From where we are it's probably Lake Washington, but I wouldn't be surpised if it turned out to be Puget Sound, I'm not quite sure - and since we never received a copy of the developer's Geotech report, I can't look it up there.

From the NE corner of the construction project on NE 87th St, there's a lot of silty runoff coming from the Wedgwood apartments construction project.



This flows down the south side of NE 87th Street, and into a drainage system down by 38th Ave NE. Below is a photo of how muddy the water is during any kind of rainstorm.

Now compare that to the other side of the street, and you can see how clear that water is.

A responsible developer would prevent this by using devices such as silt curtains, straw mulching or other vegetation to prevent erosion and discharge. They would also take steps to limit this impact by not using the south side of NE 87th St for contractor parking, deliveries and forklift operations.


Anyway, the Washington State Department of Ecology has a number of storm water prevention plan regulations that should be followed. I guess we'll be following up with them.



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