Asphalt plant will only remove 30%-60% of deadly contaminants before injecting runoff into our aquifer

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Hot Mix Asphalt Plant Emission Assessment Report provides the pounds-per-year of pollutants expected from typical asphalt plants.

In our toxic world, the only safe drinking water is that which evaporates from the ocean, condenses in a cloud, and drops as rain or snow in a clean, natural environment.  This is what Seattle drinks, and it is what Renton residents deserve as well.

Treated industrial runoff will never be healthy drinking water.  Industrial runoff is treated to a level that will minimize harm to wildlife as the water returns to the ocean. It’s not treated to a standard that makes it safe enough for human consumption.  Only evaporation and condensation will make treated industrial runoff safe to drink again.

With their proposed new Asphalt plant, Lakeside Industries is planning  to remove about 30-60% of the contaminants from their runoff using onsite treatment.  They will then inject the remaining waste-water, still containing 40-70% of some of the worst pollutants, into Renton’s sole source aquifer.  This is per poor instructions from the County, in a flawed approval process that has acknowledged the responsibility to protect salmon but not Renton’s residents.

Airborne contaminants from asphalt production will settle on equipment and pavement throughout Lakeside’s industrial site. Rainstorms will flush the poisons into a central catch basin, along with waste water from hosing down equipment and pavement.  Contaminants will include toxins like benzene, arsenic, lead, and mercury, along with dangerous PAHs that can cause cancer and autoimmune diseases, including fatal blood diseases.  Approximately half of the deadliest contaminates, those that are fully dissolved into the drinking water, will pass right through the “Enhanced basic” on-site filtration system–by design.

King County has required Lakeside to meet an “enhanced basic” standard in treating their runoff, which lets 30-60% of heavy metals pass right through.  The partial-treatment comprises an oil separator, a sand vault, and a small retention pond.  The 50% or so of dangerous contaminants that flow right through these simple systems will be infiltrated into our aquifer recharge zone.

There’s widespread misunderstanding about  the capability of the on-site system to clean the water.  The treated water is considered too dirty to dump in the Cedar River. Renton should not allow water deemed too dirty for the Cedar River to be intentionally pumped into our sole source aquifer.

Many people mistakenly believe this water will be clean enough to put into our aquifer recharge zone, perhaps because they have not read the County manual.  Even the Court of Appeals last May appeared to think the water would be fully cleaned, as you can surmise in their decision rejecting the residents’ appeal regarding water quality concerns.

“And, as detailed in the County’s MDNS, a stormwater filtration system will be installed where “[r]unoff from all paved surfaces will be collected and discharged into the new drainage and water quality treatment facility per the [King County Surface Water Design Manual] standards for industrial sites.”

But what does the King County Surface Water Design Manual actually say?

This excerpt from the King County Surface Water Design Manual, explains the goal of “Enhanced Basic Water Quality” is getting more than 60 percent of zinc and more than 30 percent of copper out of the water, leaving 40% and 70% in the water respectively. These metals are “indicator” metals that represent all the heavy metal contaminants like mercury and lead.  Removing 80% of TSS (Total Suspended Solids) refers to getting visible dust and grime out of the water.

In this response to concerns expressed by Maple Valley, Lakeside Industries stated that they are meeting the “Enhanced Basic” level of treatment– which leaves about half of the deadly chemicals in the waste water.

If you just take even one of the pollutants on the EPA chart at the top of this article, like benzene for example at 28 lb/yr, you’ll find it is unsafe in water at just six parts per billion, an extremely small amount that is difficult and expensive to even test for. Most of it won’t be removed by a basic onsite sand filter or settling pond.  Add in all the other Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Volatile Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs), and dissolved deadly metals, which will all flow freely through sand, and Renton’s aquifer will be in serious jeopardy.  This is why Water District 90 is already planning to abandon their well.

If the water reaches our homes, most water filters won’t remove these contaminants.  Even those of us with the means to install reverse osmosis filters in our homes would only be able to filter out 20-80% of some of these deadly chemicals.  And reverse osmosis filters waste four gallons of water for every drinkable gallon they produce–not a very sustainable option in mass.

Air pollution and water quality are inextricably linked.  And the Court of Appeals essentially dismissed air quality concerns as well, accepting a smoke-and-mirrors legal argument that said it was too late to consider residents’ concerns.  This appears to have left pollution decisions that affect the health of tens of thousands of people up to a single-decision maker.

RCW 43.21C.075(7). As this provision plainly states, when a party appeals under both SEPA and the SMA, SEPA requires that the Board have “sole jurisdiction” over both appeals. Thus, we grant the County’s motion to dismiss the LUPA appeal because it only raises arguments under SEPA where the Board correctly exercised “sole jurisdiction.” It necessarily follows that Citizens lacks any proper vehicle by which to raise its air quality argument in this appeal. As a result, we do not address it here.

The permitting process has nearly run it’s flawed course, and it’s failures and shortcomings are on display.  Everyone from the King County Executive, to County Councilmembers, to Renton Mayor and Council Members, to Water Commissioners, to Fire Chiefs, and to the residents have gone on record acknowledging that this errant approval is a process failure and a mistake.

Fortunately, Washington State gave Renton the right to protect our water supply by purchase or eminent domain of lands that might pollute it, and that right is not dependant on all of the nonsense mistakes made up until this point.  The shortcomings of the plant’s approval process only strengthens the need for Renton to use it’s authority to protect our water supply.

The water in our aquifer is healthy to drink because it is an underground river continuously replenished with clean rain and snow. It is NOT previously dirty water that became clean by penetrating the 30-foot confining layer. Deadly contaminants that enter the aquifer could poison it for years and years.

I’m not opposed to asphalt or Lakeside Industries.  Asphalt is an important commodity, used throughout Renton to keep our city functioning.  Lakeside Industries is a family-run business that has followed the rules in their application process, and deserve to be compensated for the time and money they have invested in this property.  Renton could pay them a fair price, estimated around $15 million, and recover all or most of the money through Federal, State and County environmental grants.

This Federal EPA map shows the locations of “Sole Source Aquifers” in our region, shown in dark blue. Note that most of the land in the Seattle area is not on a sole source aquifer, and would be more suitable for Lakeside’s asphalt plant.

For those who share these concerns about the future of Renton’s water supply, please contact the elected officials of Renton and ask them to use their authority under RCW 8.12.030 to purchase or condemn the Asphalt plant property.

They can be reached via email at:  council@rentonwa.gov,  and mayor@rentonwa.gov

The mailing address for the City of Renton, Washington is 1055 South Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057, (attention City Council and Mayor), and the City of Renton’s official public phone number is (425) 430-6400.