I heard it reported on TV yesterday that if the massive Renton sewage plant floods out, household water supply to as many as 800,000 people may be shut off by authorities in order to completely stop the in-flow of sewage to the Renton facility.
The TV talking head said that if this isn’t done there is a real possibility of sewage backups into the homes of all who live just a little bit lower in elevation than someone else. Since we live in a region of plateaus and valleys, this would be quite likely.
However, left unsaid was the option that the authorities could just let the raw sewage into the flood-swollen rivers to flow away to places like Lake Washington and eventually the Sound. While this is certainly an option with some downsides, it is much better than the alternative, which would essentially make 800,000 people homeless. Believe me, if you can’t take a shower, flush the toilet, cook or even brush your teeth, in three days you have to abandon the house for a motel somewhere. Workplaces also have to close down. This “turn the tap water off” solution amounts to a displacement of more people than the recent Balkan Wars with their ethnic cleansing. Worse yet, it could be months before the Renton sewer plant is back on line to pristine environmental standards. Will people be forced from their otherwise perfectly safe and livable homes for months?
Those people who live around Lake Washington who say: “Oh, we don’t want that!” must consider that much of their sewage too goes to the Renton plant so their water would also be turned off.
To divert major sewage flows directly into the swollen rivers is by far the best and most common sense of course of action. Certainly there will be huge federal and state fines paid. Pay the fines later, prevent human disaster and misery now. There is an old adage that the cure for pollution is dilution. Floods by definition consist of a lot of water. Yes, it will be a horrid mess and something of a health challenge, but only for a few months and by mid-summer next year nature will have decomposed and washed away most of the problem.
Michael L. Cook
Kent
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