King County wants to hear from the public about the scope of its environmental review of two potential locations for building a new south county recycling and transfer station to replace the aging Algona Transfer Station.
Under State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) guidelines, King County has an obligation to develop an environmental impact statement (EIS) for multiple siting options.
After a broad search for possible facility sites throughout south King County that included input from an advisory committee and the public, two potential sites remain under consideration:
• 901 C St. SW, Auburn
• 35101 W. Valley Highway S., Algona
The EIS will evaluate possible impacts to the environment of building a new recycling and transfer station on each of the potential sites, or taking no action and retaining the existing transfer station.
A public open house is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 15 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. in the Lindbloom Student Center at Green River Community College, 31920 124th Ave. SE, Auburn.
At the Nov. 15 meeting, interested citizens can learn about the project and tell King County what environmental topics they would like the County to examine in its formal review.
The SEPA public comment period runs through Nov. 30.Public comments can be submitted in several ways:
• At the Nov. 15 meeting
• Via the project website,or
• By sending mail to: King County Solid Waste Division, 201 S. Jackson Street, Suite 701, Seattle, WA 98104-3855, Attn.: Eric Richardt.
For more information, or to request accommodations for the Nov. 15 public meeting, contact Richardt at 206-296-8424, TTY Relay: 711.
King County is proposing to replace the outdated and over-capacity Algona Transfer Station with a facility that:
• Provides sufficient space for recycling services.
• Encloses the building to control odor, noise and dust.
• Provides adequate on-site space for vehicles to maneuver.
• Installs trash compactors to accurately and efficiently load the collected garbage, and cut the number of trucks hauling garbage from the recycling and transfer station to the landfill by nearly one third.
• Creates a facility that is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
Replacing the old Algona Transfer Station is recommended by King County’s Solid Waste Transfer and Waste Management Plan. The plan, approved by the King County Council in 2007 with input from an advisory committee, established the framework for upgrading the County’s aging transfer station infrastructure.
