Crisis for critical Spanaway watershed

By Marianne Lincoln The chatter in environmental circles is intense. The concern is removal of a large number of huge trees and the ensuing ground heat on the watershed entering Spanaway Lake from the marsh and streams to the southwest of it. Impervious surface and water system pollution are the concerns. The Tiny Home Village…

Parkland area sewer closures

From Pierce County Planning and Public Works:C Street South between Tule Lake Road and 128th Street to close Aug. 29 Work on C Street South between Tule Lake Road and 128th Street South (Section B) will resume on Monday, Aug. 29. The contractor working for Pierce County on the Parkland/Brookdale Sewer Interceptor Phase 3 project suspended work for…

The Clean Water Act and your water

The Clean Water Act’s (CWA) goal is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. The term, TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) will appear throughout this article. Other important Congressional Acts are the SDWA (Safe Drinking Water Act) and the Sole Source Aquifer Program (SSA) of the EPA (Environmental…

Brookdale Road Closures for sewer pipe, again

PIERCE COUNTY — A sewer interceptor is a sewer trunk line that receives wastewater flows from multiple collection lines. These could be main or trunk sewers, or force mains, or other kinds of sewer lines. This combined flow is then directed to a wastewater treatment facility or another interceptor. To address capacity need and to…

A disaster called Clover Creek

Since 1853, when Washington became a Territory, Clover Creek has been diverted, dammed, dug up, relocated, culverted, drilled back into the ground and had vast amounts of pollutants dumped into it. The creek was named by Christopher Mahon who settled a Donation Land Claim there, where the Brookdale Golf Course was later sited. Their home…

Pierce County sewer rates to increase Jan. 1, 2021

PIERCE COUNTY — Customers in Pierce County’s sewer service area will see a 3.75 percent increase in their sewer rates starting Jan. 1, 2021. The Pierce County Council passed Ordinance No. 2019-77 which set the sewer rate as part of the 2020-21 biennial budget. There was also a rate increase in 2020. Single-family residential customers…