Category: Uncategorized

This has some additional details about the subject incident

______________________________________________________________
Commander Paul Cline 425-430-7597 July 1, 2009

Renton Police Department
Media Release

On June 30th, at 9:25 pm officers of the Renton Police Department were assisting with traffic control for a structure fire at NE 9th Street and Harrington Ave NE. Officers were diverting traffic at the intersection of Sunset Blvd NE and Edmonds Ave NE. A uniformed officer was in the intersection directing traffic when a white Toyota Pick-up truck, driven by a 29-year-old male, was traveling southbound on Edmonds and turned left onto eastbound Sunset. The Toyota failed to yield the right of way to a Honda that was northbound on Edmonds and struck the Honda in the intersection. The Toyota then continued eastbound on Sunset in the westbound lanes of travel and struck the officer who was directing traffic. The officer was thrown across the front end of the Toyota and carried approximately 100 feet on the vehicle before he was thrown free. The officer then rolled under the front end of another vehicle that was stopped in the westbound lanes of Sunset. The Toyota then crossed over the center median and into the eastbound lanes of travel where it collided with a parked Renton Police Car and came to rest.

The officer, who has been with the Renton Police for approximately one year, was transported to Harborview Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The officer was treated for his injuries and was released several hours later. The drivers of the vehicles involved in the collision were not injured. The Renton Police Department Traffic Unit is conducting the on-scene investigation. The driver of the Toyota Pick-up that struck the officer was arrested and transported to the Renton Police Department for investigation of Reckless Driving and DUI.

Flames could be seen for miles tonight as two of four building at our brand new Harrington Square Apartments burned to the ground in Renton Highlands.

The complex of 5 story buildings caught fire in a dramatic fashion, in what many witnesses described as a loud explosion, or series of explosions. Some nearby property owners are even reporting cracked windows, possibly from the explosion.

Fire departments throughout the region sent support, to assist Renton firefighters as they battled to knock down the flames and keep them from spreading to nearby homes and businesses. Fire personnel were present from Kirkland, Woodinville, Eastside Fire and Rescue, Fire District 40, Bellevue, Seattle, Kent, Tukwila, Burien, and Skyway, and likely many others.

Fortunately, it looks at this point like no one was seriously hurt by the fire. Since the apartments units were under construction, they were unoccupied when they ignited. [INJURY UPDATE: See my next entry, an email from the mayor, for information regarding the injury of a police officer who was hit by a drunk driver while directing traffic at the scene]

Ironically, and very fortunately, the Harrington Square project had been delayed for over a year as we upgraded water mains in Sunset Ave NE specifically to equip this part of the city with the capacity needed to extinguish a fire in these buildings, on the prescient advice of our fire department. We completed our 1.5 million dollar water main work last year, and construction on Harrington Square began shortly afterward.

This apartment complex was built on the site of an aging strip mall, and is intended to jump start the Renton Highlands redevelopment effort.

While the two buildings affected are a total loss, I am hopeful the project will have insurance that can keep it moving forward. This is of course a huge setback in any case.

I am thankful to all the fire fighters toiling tonight to contain the damage. They have really had to work hard this month to keep the city from burning down.

Here is a link to the architects summary of the Harrington Square project.

Here are some pictures I took at the scene:

Elizabeth Stevens, who lives just west of Renton Airport, reported this on her Facebook this morning:

“Renton Police were all over our street and down to Rainier Ave late last night searching for a hit & run suspect. Advised us all to keep doors & windows locked. Wonder if they caught the suspect. We need RPD cruising our area more frequently these days.”

I’ll post more information when it comes in.

Photo: In March the Corps of Engineers briefed us on problems with the abutment of the Howard Hanson Dam

Word just came down from the Army Corps of Engineers that they will be dropping the water level behind Howard Hanson Dam due to very fast seepage through the abutment adjacent to the Dam. You can read a lot more detail on this abutment issue in my March blog on this topic here.

The new report further emphasizes the potential risk of flooding along the Green River when the rains return in the fall. All businesses and residents in the potential flood plain are encouraged to obtain flood insurance if it is at all possible.

Here is today’s status from the Corp of Engineers:

___________________________________________
Engineers continue caution at Howard Hanson Dam; conservation pool levels being brought down

June 23, 2009

Contact: Casondra Brewster 206-764-6958 or Public Affairs 206-764-3750

SEATTLE – Testing in conjunction with the conservation pool rise at Howard Hanson Dam is ongoing. With the recent findings and observations at higher levels in the reservoir pool, Engineers are concerned that the right abutment is showing signs of internal erosion.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, has been in the midst of testing during its traditional summertime conservation pool raise. The pool reached an elevation last week of 1,169.2 feet and engineers saw renewed reasons to believe that the abutment is still weakened.

Of particular concern is the recent dye testing that shows that water is moving through the right abutment very fast at higher pool elevations. These tests indicate that there are preferential flow paths within the natural materials of the right abutment that could lead to internal erosion within the right abutment if water is held at these higher elevations for extended periods of time.

“This phenomenon continues to be troubling,” said Mamie Brouwer, Program Manager. However, there is no visual distress of the right abutment that has been observed, she said.

Although data collected below 1,157 feet seems to stay within normal ranges, elevations going higher seem to cause more seepage and uncertain water paths through the abutment.

Therefore, the Corps of Engineers has decided to release water from the dam over the course of the next two weeks, to bring the pool level down to 1,155 feet above sea level. This operation will result in reservoir outflows that are not expected to exceed 1,200 cubic feet per second based on current weather and hydrologic forecasts, which is within established thresholds. Residents along the river will not see significant changes in the river flows over the next two weeks

Around-the-clock monitoring continues, as will other data-collection processes during the pool draft.

“We do not understand how the water is traveling through the abutment,” Brouwer said. “We know that what we may be seeing fits the traditional definition of internal erosion.”

The Seattle District’s immediate objective is preparing for the upcoming fall/winter flood season. Preparations include continuing with plans to construct an interim seepage barrier wall and improving the drainage tunnel to control seepage through the most critical part of the right abutment, and continuing to monitor the pool throughout the draft. Simultaneously, the team has initiated test borings, geotechnical modeling and analysis to support planning for a long term repair project to address seepage.

Meanwhile the Seattle District Commander, Col. Anthony O. Wright, wants the downstream community residents to know that the risk for higher flood levels is significantly increased compared to what they are typically used to, until such time as the issues with the dam’s right abutment can be resolved.

“I can’t stress enough our number one mission here is public safety,” Wright said. “We will continue to keep Green River Valley leaders and first responders informed. We ask that residents contact their community leaders and get as much information as possible on how to prepare for such a contingency.”

Wright was referring to the Corps’ efforts of working closely with King County and the downstream cities of Auburn, Kent, Renton and Tukwila to prepare for the fall/winter flood season with the increased risk of higher-than-standard flows from the dam.

“Regardless of the possibility of increased flow rates from the dam,” said Dam Safety Program Manager, Rob Romocki, “It truly is important for the communities to understand that this is a river valley and the potential for flooding exists even when Howard Hanson Dam has full operational capacity and the levees work as they should. So, it’s easy to see the risk increasing when the dam has a lowered operational capacity.”

Information on flood preparedness may be found at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/safety/prepare/FloodPlan_GRiverBasin.aspx

Updates regarding the dam may be found at: http://www.nws.usace.army.mil .

Received from Marcie Palmer this AM:
___________________________________

Hi Bloggers-

Looked like a great turnout at the Dog & Pony for the RUFF event. Thanks to ALL!!!!

We (Michael, 11-yr-old) & Daphne-Dog (My ONLY Girl 🙂 took some bedding down to the displaced fire victims. According to Delancy Bldg Mgr. ROy, we were the first to bring any bedding. The Salvation Army bought 5 new twin mattresses at Sams, and the Red Cross gave each of the 7 tenants a debit card for $360 for essentials (socks, unerwear, etc.).

We met a tenant moving his few things from his car to his new apt., since he used to live in Apt 1 across the street (looking east, the first one on your left, and the smoke was billowing out of at the beginning…).

He said he needed an alarm clock and a fan (Roy said the rooms are HOT — this building was built about 1911).

Needs: Remember, these “apartments” are bedroom-size. 1 twin bed, 1 chair and 1 small table.

5 Fans

5 Alarm clocks

5 blankets

4+ Twin sheet sets

5 Chairs

Eating:

1 Bowl per person (5)

Eating utensils (forks, knives, spoons, etc.)

Plates, glasses, coffee makers, etc.

Thanks for updatin our Community!

Marcie P.

Gary Palmer, professional photographer and husband of councilwoman Marcie Palmer, has posted some photos he shot of the fire fighters and crowd in downtown last night.

(Marcie can be seen in the bottom photo.)

This is just a few of his photos from last night. His complete set of 77 images is on his website HERE

As more infomration comes in about last night’s fire, one of the biggest realizations is it could have been much worse if the fire department and community had not acted so quickly.

Mayor Denis Law filled me in on some additional details this morning. According to Denis, several seperate buildings share a common basement, which put a large part of the historic block at risk. However, firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading through the shared basement, and they were successful at isolating the serious damage to the building used by the Comic Den, A1-Vaccuum, and some apartments. Denis also confirmed for me that the building was not equipped with fire sprinklers. This is sometimes the case with older buildings that have not been significantly remodled or had a change in use, and are therefore “grandfathered” without sprinklers. (I don’t know if sprinklers would have saved this building, but they certainly would have helped firefighters contain the fire as quickly as possible.)

Sadly, between the smoke and water, the Comic book Den has lost much of it’s valuable and rare inventory. Likewise, the Vacuum shop lost much of it’s product.

Thc Common Ground Cafe, located in an adjacent building (with the shared basement) is currently without power, and has some smoke to clean up and air out, but is otherwise okay.

In fact, The Common Ground may be reopening as early as today or tomorrow!

Again, it looks like there were no significant injuries, and the community and Red Cross are pulling together to help those that have been impacted.
__________________________________________
Here is a little more info in an email that Denis sent to our Fire Chief and our Economic Development Director this morning:

Chief Daniels and Alex,

The city is receiving a lot of praise by downtown property and business owners today for the quality service provided during and after the fire on Wells St.

David: I was very impressed with the efforts of your command staff and our fire fighters in attacking a difficult fire that could have been much worse. Besides calling in ample assistance, the strategy to save the adjoining businesses was executed very well. In addition, I have talked to a number of business owners, both during the fire and this morning, who are expressing their gratitude for the efforts of our fire fighters. While at the scene this morning, it was truly heartwarming to see how hard your staff was working to try and get power restored for the local businesses, understanding the impact if they lose a day of business during a time when businesses are struggling to survive.

Alex: Jennifer and Suzanne have been great in dealing with the needs of local residents and business owners who have been impacted by the fire. They are finding solutions to assist Common Ground with their significant challenge of handling a large catering project today at a time when they have no power. Even Liz Stewart stopped by to see if the museum could be of any assistance to the property owner.

This was a great example of the professionalism and dedication that our employees have in serving this community. Our utilities staff was on the scene to make sure we had adequate water and police did a great job of handling a huge crowd and some significant traffic challenges.

Please express my thanks to all involved!

Thanks.
Denis

Photo from Lady P of The Picaroon

There is a terrible fire in downtown Renton tonight. Over 100 fire-fighters are battling the blaze. King5 News has the story with video here

And Renton Blogger Lady P has close-in pictures and a first-hand report at her blog entry HERE

This is a sad night. This is a popular building, that was enjoying a renaissance of popular new businesses. The Common Ground Cafe was emerging as a popular hang-out for many (I just had coffee there on Sunday with a dozen friends), the Comic Den is a downtown institution, and several other popular businesses as well as residential apartments were impacted.

Mayor Law is on site, and I’ll post his comments when we get them.

The only good news of the evening is that so far it appears that no one was hurt.

Photo from the The Seattle Times

This afternoon my family and I visited the Sanctuary Apartments at the Landing. They run from $925 for a studio, to about $1900 for their most expensive unit with the best view. So far, about 30 units are occupied, about 60 more are ready for occupancy, and the remaining 350 units in the Sanctuary will be ready soon. Meanwhile, the adjacent project, called “The Reserve” is a few months later in the process. It will feature more lake views, and prices will be slightly higher. All together, there will be 880 units, with two swimming pools, and two groups of common spaces. (One for The Sanctuary, one for The Reserve).

The common areas at the Sanctuary include outdoor swimming pool, second floor garden (not yet planted), clubhouse with bar, coffee bar, business center, workout room, game room, and general sitting/visiting areas. All of it is very inviting, and will provide vibrant social living spaces for the residents.

The apartments themselves are beautiful, and provide some unique views of the Landing, Boeing, the Airport mountains, the lake (in a few cases), parks, and city lights.

To me, one of the most attractive qualities of all is the proximity to restaurants and the park. A quick walk through the Landing will offer just about any environment and food choices the residents may want, to mingle, visit, dine, etc. And Coulon Park, our most beautiful park with a mile of meticulously groomed lakefront, is just a few minutes walk from the Sanctuary, so there is something for everyone.

These apartments are sure to be a hit. Here are pictures from tonight’s visit. They are open daily until about 7:00 PM, although they close a bit earlier on Sunday.

In addition to offering tremendous housing options, these apartments will also help the Landing maintain a bustling nightlife, and together with the Boeing day crowd, ensure the restaurants and shops have plenty of core customers in addition to those of us in the surrounding parts of town.

 

And a quick pizza dinner at the Rock completes the afternoon… Continue reading →

Here is a recent email chain started by former Renton Councilwoman Theresa Zimmerman, a North Renton resident. ( Her note is on the bottom of the message, and a response from our Alex Pietsch, our Economic Development Director, is above it.)

I agree with Theresa and Alex that we should do whatever we can to keep this post office (as well as the one in Fairwood).

——————————————-
From: Alexander Pietsch
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 4:24:37 PM
To: ”Theresa Zimmerman
Cc: Suzanne Dale Estey; Jennifer Davis Hayes; Denis Law; Jay B Covington;
Council; Julia Medzegian
Subject: RE: Downtown Post Office
Auto forwarded by a Rule

Ms. Zimmerman,
Thank you for your email. Please let me first say that we could not agree with you more. We are very concerned about the potential relocation of the Downtown Post Office and are working hard to try to find a way to influence the Post Office’s decision. Unfortunately, this process is somewhat difficult to understand. The USPS is a quasi-Federal entity and has a lot of authority to do what it wants to do without consulting the City.

On a positive note, in our limited conversations with them they have assured us that:

1) Even if they were to close the post office as we know it, they would maintain a smaller “retail” branch where you could still mail a letter/package, have a PO Box, etc (They just are contemplating consolidation of the mail sorting and distribution functions). This would not be a post office within another business. It would be a full service post office, but in a smaller space, without all of the back office operations they currently have Downtown.

2) There will be some kind of public process before any final decisions are made. We will be watching this closely and intend to stay on it.

Meanwhile, your support for Renton’s Downtown is much appreciated.

—–Original Message—–
From: ‘Theresa Zimmerman
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 2:30 PM
To: Alexander Pietsch

Subject: Downtown Post Office

Dear Mr. Pietsch,
I am sending to you comments that I made online at the Renton Reporter regarding the possible closure, relocation of the United States Post Office in downtown Renton. I would like to be informed when any meetings concerning this issue arise.

“As a resident of North Renton, one who encourages people to do business in the Downtown whenever possible, I am dismayed to see that an anchor such as The United States Postal Service branch on Williams Ave. is under consideration for a possible action of some type, I read “relocate”.

The term used to discuss the idea of changes to a heretofore icon of stability “in play” sounds as if we are involved in a sporting event , when in reality we are engaged in some serious community building and standard of living issues. Why on earth would I want to drive to NE 4th, an incredibly busy arterial, to post a package or conduct official postal business when presently I can walk 5 minutes down the street and accomplish that task? Why would anyone? The more errands or tasks that I can do at one time in the Downtown area the longer I stay there, the more likely I am to eat there, shop etc.

The City of Renton has gone to great lengths, and I applaud them, to create and maintain an environment friendly toward residents in the traditional city proper. We have many lovely new multi-family housing units, we have residents maintaining and upgrading and in some cases building single family dwellings. It is beyond ridiculous to support these efforts to get people to locate in the downtown community and then to pull the rug out from under them by moving basic and local services such as the USPS branch somewhere else.

Currently due at least in part to the unusual economic times my neighborhood is reeling from the loss of grocery stores, retail outlets, restaurants, and the like; I can only wonder, what retail outlet would the post office relocate to? How on earth would the Postal Service guarantee it’s availability to residents in the case of failure of the retail merchant? When you consider the costs of keeping a branch open, consider the costs of keeping a retail merchant open in order to keep the post office functioning!

It is not as if government services such as the post office are trends or whims, they are fundamental core services and the work done there carries with it serious legal ramifications.

Get a grip, do not pull up anchor, we in the downtown need the ready accessibility of core services and yes even some symbolic sign of stability in these unnerving times.”

Thank you for your attention,

Theresa Zimmerman

Renton, WA 98057

A Renton area resident has written to the council a few times asking us to please dredge the mouth of the Cedar river. The resident has pointed out that sediment has built up a new shallow delta, and logs from recent river flooding have covered the area. The end result is a hazard to boating, as well as an apparent increase in lower-river-stretch flood risk.

But, we’ve had to inform him that we are unlikely to dredge this section of river anytime soon. We tried this in the early 1990’s, and it turned out to be highly expensive and largely ineffective for long-term flood relief. If I recall correctly, city taxpayers shelled out more than half a million dollars, and the state more than matched this amount, for an effect that seemed to disappear after the next flood season refilled the lower river stretch with new sediments.

It’s physics… when a flowing river runs into a still body of water, it drops its entrained sediment.

We did finally give ourselves flood relief in this zone. We built flood walls and berms the reach several feet above the high water level, and several feet above the elevation of the lake, so that we can keep the cedar river contained and flowing fast all the way until it reaches Lake Washington– regardless of how much sediment it deposits along this stretch of river bottom.

With regard to the logs, we’re working with other governmental agencies to get rid of those. The Mercer Island Police, who provides marine patrol services to Renton under contract, will occasionally tow dangerous floating logs, one at a time, to a temporary holding facility. But it’s up to the state to ultimately keep the waterways safe.

Here are some pictures I shot of the current situation:

The Cedar River dumps into Lake Washington right below the Boeing airplane bridge, seen above.

Logs and sandbars populate the area around the Cedar River delta, creating a hazard for unwary boaters

These logs get washed down by the Cedar River from upstream in Maple Valley or Renton, and left in the mud and sand at the river mouth. Department of Fisheries likes the habitat provided, but boaters can get in trouble if they are not careful.

And here is an email our Public Works Director sent to the City of Seattle last week, with additional information on this topic:

: Gregg A. Zimmerman
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 7:52 PM
To: Pat.Lee@Seattle.gov
Cc: fmandrews@aol.com; Don Persson; Jay B Covington; Lys L. Hornsby; Ronald Straka; Julia Medzegian
Subject: Cedar River Access Facility

Dear Pat Lee:

I have been following the e-mail exchanges between FM Andrews and you regarding the question of dredging the Cedar River delta. I just wanted to add a couple of clarifying points from the City of Renton’s perspective.

Over the last 15 years the City of Renton has been involved in two large dredging projects, one within the Cedar River Delta and the other along the lower channel of the Cedar River.

The earlier of the two projects was the dredging of the Cedar River delta. The delta dredging project had an unsatisfactory outcome in several respects. Renton was not able to obtain the required permits for important elements of the project due to concerns raised by the environmental resource agencies and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. The City of Renton went forward with the delta dredging portion of the project even though these other key elements had to be abandoned. Dredging of the Cedar River delta was extremely expensive and did not prevent or alleviate flooding of the river in Renton during high river flow events. In addition, within several years sediment transport in the river caused the delta to re-form. The City determined that the costs of this project far exceeded the benefits, and decided that it was not in the City’s interests to dredge the delta again.

A few years later Renton partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers in the lower Cedar River Flood Control project that included dredging of the lower channel of the Cedar River and the construction of flood walls and berms along the banks. This second project has proven to be a highly effective flood control project, as evidenced by the fact that the river did not overflow its banks during the severe January 2009 flood event. The City remains committed to periodic maintenance dredging of the lower channel of the Cedar River in order to preserve channel capacity and to prevent future flooding.

This maintenance dredging does not include the Cedar River delta. With the exception of a project (currently unfunded) to dredge a small portion of the lake at the north end of the Renton Municipal Airport in order to improve safety for sea plane operations, the City of Renton has no plans or funding for future dredging of the Cedar River delta. Furthermore, the City of Renton does not have jurisdictional authority or responsibility for dredging the Cedar River delta.

I hope these clarifications have been helpful.

Sincerely,

Gregg Zimmerman, P.E.
Public Works Administrator
City of Renton
1055 South Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057

Our hard-working economic development director reminds me to remind citizens that this hotel image is only conceptual, there are no agreements in place, and this is fully subject to change, but….

HERE are the renderings that I was asked if I could obtain following the Mayor’s mention of a possible new hotel in his “State of the City Address.”

I think that this site, already either optioned or outright owned by Paul Allen, would be an excellent location for a hotel. And the concept of a Seahawks-themed hotel makes perfect sense. I even like the suggested name, Hawks Landing, which obviously ties together two of the most recent redevelopment accomplishments in out city, the Seahawks Headquarters and “the Landing” urban village.

This hotel would no-doubt served the Seahawks headquarters well as a home for visiting prospects, player’s families, journalists, financial advisers, fans, and other team supporters. And with it’s access to Bellevue, Renton, and Sea Tac Airport, I’m sure it would become a popular hotel for visiting business men and women doing business on the Eastside.

On a more personal front, a hotel here would also quickly become a preferred location for those of us living in Kennydale, the Highlands, and Newcastle to lodge our out-of-town guests who do not wish to sack out on our hide-a-beds.

The site, which currently has some old industrial-looking Pan Abode structures on it, is a gateway to both the cities of Renton and Newcastle. So a redevelopment of this type would give a nice impression to people entering our community.

Redevelopment of this site would include offsite utility upgrades and would probably also include dedication of the final trail section to complete a May Creek Trail corridor. To make all the pieces come together, we would most likely work to reach some sort of development agreement; that way we would know we could count on a new tax stream to off-set the upfront costs for any public works.

The possibility of a large project at this location has picked up some interest in Olympia, as lawmakers struggle to reinvigorate the state economy. Consequently, our state legislative team is working to find capital improvement or street funds to help us with this. It’s obviously difficult to find a dime in the general fund these days, and the legislature is considering moving capitol funding to the general fund this year to get us through the current budget crisis. But if there are capitol funds for utility upgrades trails to be found, particularly as seed money to jump-start development, we will be all over it. Marcie Maxwell, our newly elected 41st District State Representative, has been monitoring this very closely for us. And Margarta Prentice has been helping Renton in the senate. If there is any money available for this type of capitol project (for either the road work, the trail, or both), after the state General Fund is balanced, we may have a chance at getting some assistance.

 

By now, many South End residents have heard word that the Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River will not be able to hold full-capacity for a while.

On Thursday I was part of a bus-load of elected officials, emergency preparedness coordinators, US senate staffers, journalists and others who went to inspect the issue first hand. Forty of us in all (including our guides from the Corps).

I won’t go into all the details here, because the television stations did such a good job explaining the situation, and you can see one of their news pieces here at Komo 4.

In summary, the Howard Hanson Dam was installed in a gorge that was already partially blocked by a 10,000 year old landslide. It is this landslide that is starting to leak a little water, not the dam, that is of great concern to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Since the landslide is made of native earth, gravel, boulders (trees, dead animals) etc, all in a jumbled order, it does not have the carefully laid layers of clay, rock , drain tiles, filter stones, and other engineering details that are in the Howard Hanson Dam itself. Consequently, it is unknown at this time whether the landslide could fall victim to a “piping” phenomena –in which flow through the ancient landslide starts to carry away bigger and bigger pieces of sediment, then rocks, then boulders–if filled to the brim right now.

The Army Corps gave us a candid and well-organized tour of the Dam along with the ancient landslide zone, which they most often refer to as the dam’s “right abutment.”

The Army Corps team was lead by Colonel Anthony Wright, the head of the Seattle Corps. At 6′ 3″, fit, and wearing combat boots and fatigues, Colonel Wright is a likable and charismatic leader… a knowledgeable hands-on engineering project manager with a Norman Schwarzkopf presentation style. (I got the impression that he could build us a perfect Dam, then pick up a rifle and grenades and personally defend it from enemy attack.)

Colonel Wright guided us through an explanation of the functions the Dam performs, and the record water levels seen in the January storm.

He showed us the sink hole that is one of the primary symptoms of an underlying problem, and then he stood in it so that our cameras would be able to capture the scale. Colonel Wright then stood at the waterline he observed in the January flood, and then at the approximate level he would allow in the next flood event prior to getting fixes installed.

He further explained that they need to do tests and drilling to determine short and long term fixes, but some of the tests are conducted best when they have more water in the reservoir. But they can’t fill the reservoir just for the tests, since they need to keep it available for flood control, manage environmental issues, and work within other constraints. So, some of the necessary tests may not occur until summer. And the tests are necessary, Colonel Wright explained, because dams and their abutments are tricky things, and some potential “fixes” could actually make things worse.

After our tour, I did a little follow on reading, and I have an even better understanding of what the Colonel was talking about. For instance, if we decided to just try to make a “Chernobyl” type fix, and cover the whole abutment in concrete, it might stop the water infiltration. But, it’s also possible it could create more concentrated infiltration around the edges of the concrete, and create a “piping” problem where one does not currently exist. Or, the water pressure on the concrete could cause the whole landslide to shift, opening a hillside crack in the interface with the Dam, with catastrophic damage. So, the Corps of Engineers will have to determine the true severity of the problem, and then wade through a myriad of possible options, including impermeable liners, extra drains, injecting grout into the ground, extra filter stones on the downstream side, and other possibilities.

The Howard Hanson Dam has been one of the great engineering and investment successes of the 20th century. Dedicated may 12, 1962 (a few days after I was born), the dam cost about 40 million dollars. It’s estimated that it has saved about five billion dollars in economic losses since that time, by providing continuous flood control for the Green-River/ Kent Valley. It also provides water to the city of Tacoma. The dam has never even reached its peak capacity, although it’s level started climbing up the gates of the spillway this January (see my picture below). The official statistics tell you this dam holds back up to 106,000 acre-feet of water. Some quick calculations reveal this is enough water to flood an area of forty square miles to a depth of four feet!… some pretty serious flood control.

As a final note, Colonel Wright himself will make the call during the next flood season regarding how much water the dam can take. He clearly understands the gravity of the decision, the impact every cubic foot of floodwater has to health and property downstream. He also knows dams and their failure modes, and he is surrounded by smart engineers. So he will make the correct decision. What we need to do now is ensure the Army Corps continues to get the support they need, do what we can to mitigate impacts downstream, and encourage property owners in the valley to purchase flood insurance.

Our tour group on the bridge to the gatehouse (which controls release of water into the Green River)

The spillway gates of the Howard Hanson Dam. If you look closely at the left one, you can see a small white line which shows the water level at the reservoir in January (the highest ever reached).

This picture shows the landslide that forms part of the dam. The bluff covered with trees, above the office, is the top of the landslide that came down from the ridge behind it 10,000 years ago. The landslide then was graded on the front, and riprap stones were applied to the front (to absorb wave energy), but the inner buildup is nothing like the engineered earthen/clay/rock dam in the foreground.
,

My long-time colleague Councilwoman Terri Brier studies the situation from the bridge that leads to the gate-house.

Excavators are digging a 150 foot deep hole, just upstream of the spillway gates, as part of a 160 million dollar upgrade which will provide fish passage and allow the Dam to permanently store more water for the city of Tacoma. A temporary “coffer dam” is keeping water out of the excavation site.

Here, Colonel Wright shows the approximate water-line at which he would limit storage if a storm occurred today, which compares to the next picture…

Here, Colonel Write stands where the water line was in January… shortly below the sink hole.

Colonel Wright stands in the sink-hole which is the primary evidence that material has washed away from inside the ancient landslide which holds the water back.

Colonel Wright briefs us all on the purpose and history of the Howard Hanson Dam. You can see how vast the reservoir is in the background.

Here is a view of the downstream side of the Dam, with the never-used paved spillway on the far left. (Water is released through a controlled gate and tube during normal operation)

A final shot in an attempt to show how beautiful the area is. (I was pretending to be the photographer Ansel Adams for this one.)

Following this winter’s big floods, we received news that the Green River Flood Control Dam, known as the Howard Hanson Dam, sustained damage this year and will not be able to fully perform again until repaired. Unfortunately, the repairs are estimated to take two to three years.

All the cities and unincorporated areas along the Green River are concerned about this, as it means a significantly heightened risk of flooding.

The Army Corps of Engineers is providing for a tour next week for affected elected officials to personally inspect the damage, so that we have a more clear picture of the situation. They gave Renton three spots on their tour, which will be used by Councilman King Parker, Councilman Greg Taylor, and me.

I’ll be sure to share my first-hand observations here. I’ll also be soliciting ideas and inputs if there are any decisions to be made about how to proceed with the reconstruction and flood control. I’ll know more after next week.

Meanwhile, I hope that the current storm passes over without pushing everything back to flood stage again. I’m ready for spring.

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I drove up Sunset from the Landing this evening, and pulled into the left turn pocket at the intersection with Edmonds Ave. While I waited for my green arrow, I noticed a northbound driver on Edmonds making a right on red, from the left lane. (There is a dedicated right lane for right turns, but he was not using it for his right-on-red.) Unfortunately for him, he also didn’t check his left side carefully enough, because a car was coming up Sunset straight at him while he made his improper turn. The driver of the approaching car had to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision. Rather awkward that the driver slamming the brakes was one of Renton’s Finest, out on patrol in his police cruiser. Yep, the errant driver cut-off a policeman, and nearly caused a serious accident. Ouch.

A flash from the police light bar made it clear it was time to do some explaining. My left turn arrow illuminated by then, so I don’t know how the story ended.