The King County Department of Health has lifted warnings for beaches near Constellation Park and the viewing area at Charles Roychi Sr. Overdue swimming restrictions were put in place after a brief release of sewage occurred on June 17 at a pump station on 63rd Avenue. Officials collected water samples at nine locations south of Alki Point, and for the past two days testing showed a safe level of contamination, the department’s spokesperson Akiko Oda said.
However, restrictions remain in place for Cormorant Cove—people and pets are advised not to enter the water there until evening on Wednesday. The situation is just another chapter in a long-running problem: sewage leaks in the area happen regularly for years, affecting both local residents and the Puget Sound ecosystem.
The most serious incidents have occurred before as well: in 2017, the same pump station on 63rd Avenue discharged 330,000 gallons of sewage, and in 2019, a malfunction at the West Point wastewater treatment plant resulted in 3 million gallons entering the water. Similar incidents have already led to major financial losses— in 2022, King County paid about $5 million to the Suquamish Tribe as part of a pretrial settlement after threats of a lawsuit over multi-million-gallon discharges into Puget Sound.
Based on: Some beach advisories lifted after West Seattle sewage overflow