The Lakehaven Water and Sewer District has paid $40,000 to resolve violations of its water quality permit as part of a settlement agreement with the Washington Department of Ecology.

The district owns and operates the Redondo Wastewater Treatment Plant, located in the Redondo neighborhood of Des Moines. Heavy rainfall coinciding with high tides caused incompletely treated wastewater to overflow from the plant into nearby Cold Creek on three days in early 2022. Cold Creek enters Poverty Bay a short distance away.

When wastewater is not completely disinfected, it carries bacteria and viruses into the bay, which can make shellfish unsafe to eat. In 2022, the Washington State Department of Health closed harvest on Poverty Bay shellfish beds near the mouth of Cold Creek due to the unpredictable impact from the Redondo plant.

Ecology initially penalized the district $85,200 for overflow events in January and February 2022, and ordered the district to correct the systemic issues causing overflows and to notify the public when overflows occur. Ecology and the district have agreed to a reduced penalty of $40,000 with the condition that the district will incur additional penalties if it does not continue to make progress to correct the problems.

The district is still under Ecology’s order to improve its infrastructure to eliminate overflow incidents to Cold Creek and protect water quality. Lakehaven must also monitor water quality in Cold Creek and Poverty Bay and notify the public during overflow events.

The Redondo Treatment Plant is one of two in the Lakehaven district. The Lakota plant processes waste from the west and south part of Federal Way, while the Redondo plant captures wastewater from the north and east.

The Lakehaven district provides service to a total of about 112,000 people, according to their website. This area mostly covers the city of Federal Way as well as small portions of the cities of Auburn, Pacific, Tacoma, Des Moines and Milton as well as an unincorporated area of King County.